Uchiha Naruto: The Sage
by fhulu4u
Summary: Madara reveals himself to be Naruto's grandfather. He infused both his cells and Hashirama's cells into Naruto. Naruto becomes strong as a result, awakening the sharingan and later the Rinnegan.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a revised chapter, I do not know if I managed to correct all the mistakes but I tried. **

**Naruto in this fic is completely different from canon. He is smart despite being of young age. **

**Disclaimer I do not own Naruto**

Chapter 1

Konohagakure no Sato, the hidden village in leafs. Outside the walls, the village looks peaceful. It looks so much peaceful that travelers forget about their travels, and decide to live within the village. The man who leads the village is also known to be a peaceful man.

But looks can be deceiving, if a person looks deeper within the shadows of Konoha, they will not see a peaceful village. The peace is just a mask, a veil that hides what is truly behind the closed doors, the real Konoha. Within the shadows, Konoha is corrupt from the leaders of the village to the civilians. Men and women inside the village are breeds of hatred. They pass on hatred to their children, as if it was a good thing. At a young age, children are taught how to hate by their mothers. Their hatred is passed on like a flue. At night when the kind hearted rest, the breeds of hatred awaken and become demons they so despise.

Such a thing as kindness within the village is hard to find because most of the villagers are breeds of hatred. They lock away the love within their hearts reserving it for those they believe to be worthy of it.

The 10th of October, the kyubi festival, they all celebrate the defeat of the great demon fox, the Kyubi. The Kyubi, the beast that killed their loved ones, destroyed their home on its rampage. Their beloved Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, defeated the great beast at the cost of his life. The death of their beloved Yondaime is another reason they hate the Kyubi.

The tenth of October, the day that even with their celebrations their hatred seems gain new life, it seems to speak to them so that they may do evil things without even pausing to think of their actions, it posses them like demons. It is this day that they act on their hatred, it is this day that they express their hatred in actions. The other days they just allow their hatred to grow inside their hearts, only expressing it in the form of hateful glares.

On this day they express their hatred in a form of beating down the Kyubi's jinchuriku, the child whom the Kyubi is sealed within. While some believe that beating down the child, they are hurting the Kyubi. Others believe that the child is the Kyubi reborn into a human child without its power. A few of the villagers believe that the child is just a prisoner of the Kyubi not the Kyubi. Those that believe that the child is the Kyubi believe that their beloved Yondaime Hokage stripped the Kyubi of its power before sacrificing himself.

Uzumaki Naruto, he had short spiky blonde hair, blue eyes and wore a white short sleeved shirt with an Uzumaki swirl in the front, orange short pants and blue shinobi sandals. He was a six year old Jinchuriku of the Kyubi, a human sacrifice. But to popular believe Uzumaki naruto was not a jinchuriku, no he was the nine-tails. At the moment he was now running for his life, with fear that no six year old child should experience. Naruto was not aware of what was sealed inside of him. Nobody told had him anything, they just kept shouting at him saying he killed their loved ones. He did not understand why they thought that he did such acts, since he has not done anything wrong.

It was only on his birthday that the angry mobs would chase him around the village and beat him up to an inch of his life. But, he always recovered in a day or two no matter how fatal the injuries he suffered.

The other days they just stared at him with demonic eyes that made him feel unwanted, like an outcast, like he was some kind of disease. Their demonic eyes always weighed him down, they suffocated him. At first he used to cry because of the demonic eyes that always stared at him, but now he had gotten used to them. He only cried when they beat him up on his birthdays.

Whenever he asked his Jiji why he always got those eyes from the villagers, his Jiji would always say that people hate everything that they did not understand. The answer always confused him each time he heard it, but he never asked anything further as the Sandaime would talk about something else.

Running away from the angry mob was pointless. They would always catch him no matter how fast his little feet ran, no matter where he hid. It was why he had stopped running now and waited for the pain to come. Today he would just receive the pain without asking questions. In the previous times when he asked questions, his questions seemed to infuriate them. They talked as if he knew what they accused him of. Even though he knew he did not do anything wrong today he was going to get beaten up without saying anything or crying for that matter. His tears always seem to energize them, giving them more strength to beat him up. Today he was going to try something else different.

''Oho, the little demon has finally stopped running''

Naruto said nothing he knew that his words would aggravate the predicament he was currently in.

''Today we are going to judge you for your crimes demon!''

He would get judged even though he committed no crimes.

''What do you have to say for yourself?''

Each time before they beat him up, they always asked him that question and each time he would always say, 'I'm innocent, please don't hurt.' His words would get him smacked in the face by a foot and angry outbursts, 'You are innocent? You dare say that after killing my wife and my little sister. You are not innocent vermin!' No matter the kind of answer he gave, it was always the wrong answer. Today he was not going to answer any question.

''You will answer me when I'm talking to you demon!'' One yelled gutting him.

Naruto coughed and looked up to the man but said nothing. He was going to get beat even if he answered the question. It served no benefit to him if he answered.

Whatever action he did or the words he uttered seemed to infuriate the mob further. One man from the mob took out a kitchen knife and stabbed him on his hand. They all waited for him to scream, but he did not scream this time. Blood just leaked from his hand, while he just looked at it.

''You are being stubborn today eh Kyubi?''

Naruto's eyes widened in shock, he had heard of the Kyubi but now he was just called the Kyubi, he was just a five year old orphan. Well now he understood why the hatred seemed to intensify on his birthday. He thought of it, he was born the day the Kyubi attacked. But why would he be called Kyubi? Everybody knew the Yondaime killed the Kyubi. He couldn't be the Kyubi, could he?

''Hey, you know we are not supposed to say that, the Sandaime forbid it''

''Ah that old fool can't do anything! You have seen how 'kind and 'loving' he is towards the demon. And yet, we have been getting our revenge on the demon for how long now? What has he done about it?''

''Yeh, you are right, let's just get our revenge and go back to the party before everybody goes home''

Naruto closed his eyes as the beating began. It hurt, but he took it all in without shedding a tear or making a sound of pain. It was just temporarily pain, he knew that in a day or two he would be waking up inside a hospital and the first person he would see would be his Jiji.

Two days later Konoha hospital

Naruto could not move any part of his body, his eyes could not open, and he felt no pain. The only thing that seemed to be working was his ears. He could hear the sound of two voices speaking. He decided to just listen on to what they were saying.

''Hokage-Sama, why don't you ask Jiraiya-Sama to come back and take Naruto out of the village?''

''I have already tried that Kakashi, but he refused. When I asked him he said to me 'I can't take care of a brat while operating a spy network and besides you know I'm not fit for the parenting role'. Even when I pointed out that Naruto was his godson he still refused''

''If it is okay, you can let me take care of him. I owe that much to his father''

''No, you are important and of one of the strongest shinobi of the village. We can't lose you not at the moment''

''Then what are we going to do?''

''I don't really know Kakashi. I just hope that Naruto remains sane despite all the hatred he has to endure.''

''So you are just going to let the villagers who attacked him go without a more suitable and justified punishment again?''

''There is nothing that we can do. We can't kill everyone who attacks him. If we did that, it would cause uproar within the village. Go back to your post I will talk to Naruto when he wakes up''

''Hai, Hokage-Sama''

The voices became quiet allowing Naruto process what he had just heard. Naruto knew from that moment that he had family, a family that did not want to take care of him a family that abandoned him. It hurt him to acknowledge that fact. He still could not understand or come to a better conclusion on what had happened to his parents. What he knew was that the Sandaime knew them and was keeping it away from him.

It almost broke him to think that they too might have abandoned him like his godfather. But he refused to dwell on that he did not have the any proof of that. The Sandaime knew everything, but had been lying to him his whole life. He was not going to tell the Sandaime about what he had heard, but he was going to ask a few questions that he would normally ask. He was going to keep what he had heard to himself, he was going to find out the truth one way or the other.

He also needed to find out about his connection with the Kyubi. The sandaime will only lie to him if he asked. It was pointless asking the old man what he knew.

It did not hurt trying though

Two hours later

The third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, smiled when he saw Naruto's body began to stir. He cared for the boy like his own grandchild. It pained him having to witness what the village he leads so such acts to a mere child.

Naruto opened up his eyes and looked at his body. His whole body was wrapped up in bandages. If one did not know any better they would think that he just escaped from one the coffins within the Egyptian pyramids.

He looked at the Sandaime

''It's good that you are awake, Naruto-kun''

Naruto nodded and looked down sadly before looking up at the Sandaime again, ''Jiji what did I do to make them hate me?'' He asked sadly. He needed to see if the Sandaime could be honest with him.

The Sandaime's smile dropped immediately, ''Naruto-kun, people will always hate things they don't understand.''

The same damn answer, he hated that answer, ''Why don't I have parents Jiji?''

''We have already gone through with that discussion Naruto, talking about it won't do any good. Now come on let me take you back to the orphanage''

His theory was confirmed, the Sandaime could not be honest with him.

Naruto got out of the bed without saying any word and followed the Sandaime to the orphanage.

A year later

Over the past year Naruto had been continuing living as a cheerful person while behind the cheerful mask he hid a calm demeanor.

Naruto had been able to find some answers he needed. His ways of getting answers involved getting 'lost' in the jonin lounge and 'Overhearing' their conversations. He had only been caught once out of the five times he had ended up there.

Naruto was unable to get anything about his parents, but he had a sad feeling that they were dead. The fact that they were dead would explain why he had no other family alive other than the godfather who abandoned him.

A shocking discovery he made was that the Kyubi was sealed inside of him. He did not understand the concept of sealing or how it was done, but he knew that the Kyubi was living inside of him. But it did not make him the Kyubi; it made him its prisoner.

He now understood why the villagers always look at him with hateful looks and their reasons for making his life a misery. Instead of seeing Uzumaki Naruto, they saw the Kyubi. He did not get why they would see him as the Kyubi, the Kyubi was just living inside of him that did not mean he was the Kyubi.

If he being only seven years old could understand that, why couldn't the villagers understand that?

When he asked himself that question, he recalled what the Sandaime had always told him each time he asked why he was hated. 'People will always hate what they don't understand'. The sandaime had been cryptically telling him that the villagers hated him because they did not understand his situation.

Despite knowing what he knew, his misery of a life did not end, it continued. It was not that he had expected things to change after knowing why Konoha hates him.

A group of villagers were on the verge of beating him up, like last time he would take the beating without complains. The Sandaime had told him that he would always be hated because they did not understand. Those words made him feel hopeless. They made him come to accept that his pain would never end.

Naruto was backed against a wall in an alley just a distance away from his apartment. The sandaime had given him the apartment because he had been kicked out of the orphanage, again. He liked his home despite it being cold and lonely, in his apartment he did not have to endure the abuse he suffered in the hands of the care takers.

Today he had decided not to roam around the village. He had stayed within his apartment all day. He had been dragged out of his apartment and thrown into the alley.

Naruto looked at the demonic grins he was receiving from the mob. It was a small mob today, many were not aware of where he lived.

He closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come. He waited and waited, but the pain never came.

He opened his eyes and looked around the dark alley. The mob had disappeared into thin air. He looked up and saw an old man in black with red eyes and a walking cane. The old man just stared at him without blinking.

Naruto was quiet for a few moments before he asked, ''Who are you?''

The old man smiled at him and replied, ''Your savior.'' Naruto stared at the old man, 'my savior' those words repeated for a minute inside his head. ''Why did you save me? No one in this village does something like that for me.'' Naruto's voice reflected pain and sadness.

The old man frowned at Naruto's words. It saddened and infuriated him to see Naruto in this kind of situation, ''I could not stand and watch foolish men beat up a child.'' He replied with a small smile.

Naruto smiled slightly, he bowed his head, ''Thank you''

The old man found it amusing. He chuckled for a second before waving Naruto off, "It's cold out here, allow me to walk you home before you catch a cold and more fools decide to attack you.''

Naruto looked at the old man curiously. No one would be willing to help him unless they wanted something in return. He tried to think of what the old might demand from him, for saving him. But his mind could not find an answer.

''It's okay, I won't hurt you.'', the old man spoke sincerely. Naruto detected it because of the kind of life he has had to live he had been forced to learn how to read people so that he might be able to know their intentions towards him. Seeing that the old man had to ill-intentions towards him, he nodded and got up.

They walked towards his apartment with the old man closely behind him. No words were being exchanged between the two, they just walked in silence. Their walk was short. The alley Naruto had been dragged to by the mob was close by his apartment.

Naruto opened the door to his apartment and stood there. There was something bothering him that he wanted to ask, but was afraid to ask.

''Go inside!'', the old man exclaimed while pushing Naruto inside his apartment by a cane.

Naruto gathered his courage and asked his questions, ''Ano, do you mind telling me your name so I can tell Hokage-jiji who saved me and what happened to the mob?''

The old man gave Naruto a sharp look. Naruto shrunk down a bit and took step back because of the fierce look he was getting, ''Don't tell your Hokage anything about me, if he asks who saved you, tell him you did not see who saved you.'', he said in a firm voice.

Naruto nodded vigorously, the look the old man gave him told him that there would be consequences, should he say anything. ''And the mob, I made it disappear.'' Naruto nodded not even understanding what the old man meant. ''My name is...Madara.'', he said before disappearing like he was never there. He was not afraid that Naruto would tell someone his name, for he knew that Naruto was a lot more secretive than he let people believe.

Naruto stared at the spot Madara had been standing for a moment before closing the door on his way inside.

The events of the day had been enough for him. He decided to rest for the day. Everything else he would do tomorrow. With those thoughts Naruto threw himself in on his bed. A few minutes later the seven year old was snoring in blissful sleep.

Hokage office

It was rare for the Sandaime to call Naruto to his office….well it was mostly because Naruto would always budge inside the office, uninvited. The Sandaime's office was one of the two places he could visit without someone kicking him out. From as long as he could remember he had always been inside the office waiting for his jiji to finish his paperwork so that they could get some ramen.

He liked it because other than the Icharaku's, the Sandaime was the only person he could talk to despite the fact that the Sandaime kept things from him. He had no friends to play with, since the other children his age hated him like their parents, but not everyone his age hated him they just did not befriend him.

The children his age only hated him because their parents told them so. Parents would even tell their children not to play with him and stay away from him because he was a bad person. They would say it even when they knew he could hear them. It was as if they felt no shame for their actions.

In the past few days Naruto had been spending much of his time at his apartment rather than spending time with the old man. He thought it was why the old man had called him to his office.

The sandaime had a small smile planted on his face. He was happy; he had good news for Naruto. A part of him knew that the boy will be happy when he tells him the great news he has.

''Naruto I have some great news for you,'' this got Naruto's complete attention, '' I have registered you to the ninja academy so you can become a shinobi like you have always wanted.'' Naruto had always told him, he wanted to become a shinobi.

The Sandaime's words replayed inside Naruto's head a few times before they suddenly sunk in. His eyes widened and he jumped onto the Sandaime and gave him the biggest hug he had ever given the old man. The Sandaime chuckled seeing Naruto's reaction.

Naruto let go of the old man and gave him the widest grin ever, ''Thank you old, I'm going to become the greatest ninja to have ever lived in Konoha, that's a promise!'' Naruto yelled with a foxy grin and a thumps up.

''Sit down Naruto! I want to tell you something.'' The old man said calming Naruto down. Naruto nodded and set down on a chair just in front of the Sandaime's desk.

''Now Naruto, tell me what is a shinobi?''

Naruto replied without even pausing to think, ''A shinobi is someone who is able to do those cool jutsu's!'' he exclaimed.

The Sandaime shook his head, ''No Naruto, a shinobi is someone who fights to protect their village, those precious to them. Shinobi do not fight for their personal glory, but they fight for the glory of that which they protect, their villages. The kind of shinobi you will become will be determined by the kind of heart you have, not the jutsu's you have,'' He paused looking at Naruto. He gave the boy an academy rated description of what a shinobi is, though with Naruto he was not sure if the boy would even take in what he had just said.

''I'm telling you this because in a week you are going to be starting your training to become a shinobi. You must know what you are getting yourself into.''

Naruto nodded he understood what it meant to be a ninja, and he was ready for it. He needed to get strong for him to be able to protect himself from the village. He was not going to tolerate their behavior towards him forever.

''I understand Jiji!''

''Naruto, do you remember that you once told me that you that you wanted to be acknowledged by the village?''

That was when he was five years old, he had told the Sandaime that he wanted to be the strongest ninja and get the village to acknowledge him.

''By attending the ninja academy you will get a chance to become a ninja. What I want you to do is to take the academy seriously, if you don't, you won't achieve your dream. Tell me that you will listen and take seriously what you learn in the in the academy.'' The Hokage said trying to make Naruto understand how important it was that he listened to what he was going to be taught in the academy. He wanted Naruto to become a good shinobi, and to become a good shinobi one had to listen well to the teachings of the academy.

''I will take the teachings seriously Jiji, that's a promise!'' Naruto exclaimed with a wide grin.

''Good, if you stay for an hour I will treat you to some ramen.''

Naruto nodded and went to sit down. The Sandaime knew that if there was something that Naruto could not refuse it had to be ramen. The boy seemed to love ramen more than anything.

He looked at his paperwork for a moment, 'I won't be able to finish this paperwork before lunch. There is just too many of those papers to read and sign. Damn you Minato for dying without telling me how you finished your paperwork fast.' The Hokage thought.

''You know what Naruto...let's go now, I will finish the paperwork when I get back.'' The Sandaime said getting up from his chair behind his desk.

''Yes Ramen!'' Naruto exclaimed before rushing to drag the Sandaime out of his office to the ramen stand. The Sandaime chuckled slightly as he was being dragged out of his office by a seven year old.

He liked this kind of moments, because he had an idea that Naruto forgets about his hard life and focuses on ramen only. Ramen always got the boy excited, treating Naruto to a few bowls of ramen was his way of ensuring that the boy was happy.

He owed it to Minato to ensure that Naruto was happy. Naruto was a hero in his eyes, even though the foolish villagers refuse to believe that. It was his job to make sure that the boy had a good life. He had already failed to make sure that the boy lived the life of a hero he was. Doing something like this was the least he could do for the boy.

A week later

Naruto walked within the Ninja academy grounds. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit he got from the Sandaime, goggles on his forehead and black shinobi sandals. He had a huge grin planted firmly on his face. He was thrilled that he was going to the academy. Going to the academy was what everyone in his age talked about. Everyone wanted to be in the academy, but he did not join the academy because it was a cool thing, no he joined because he was he wanted to become a ninja and become strong enough to protect himself.

The other kids joined the academy because they wanted to do the things that ninja's do, jutsu's. They did not understand what being a ninja meant, because they did not see what ninja's did in the battle field. Their parents would never tell them about it, since they do not want to scare them.

He had the privilege of 'overhearing' things that ninja's do when he had been 'lost' in the jonin lounge. The Jonin's occasionally spoke about their missions, the guilt some felt for killing and the pain of losing comrades during missions.

He did not know what it felt like to take someone's life, but he did not hope to experience such thing, even when he knew that being a ninja he would have to kill to fight off his enemies. His time 'overhearing' things had taught him lessons that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

He walked past a couple of parents saying goodbye to their kids. He did not know how they would respond seeing that he was entering the academy. Entering the academy meant that he would one day become a ninja and it would make things difficult for them to get their 'revenge'.

When the parents saw Naruto, their happy looks and smiles melted down, they were replaced by looks of great deal of animosity. They were not pleased with what their eyes where seeing.

The mutterings began

''I can't believe the Sandaime allowed 'it' to enter the academy!''

''What was he thinking doing it? It will only give the demon a chance to regain its strength.''

''We have to do something about this before it gets smart for its own good.''

''I think I will withdraw my son from this year's class, I don't want my son attending the same class as the demon.''

''Hikaru, you see that boy, don't talk or play with him. He is evil do you understand me?''

''Yes, Kaa-san''

Naruto's grin did not disappear when he heard the words. He had been used to the hateful words, it was nothing new. He had learned to just live his life and smile like everything was okay. Even when nothing was okay, he still smiled like everything else was okay.

Crying over the hurtful words was not going to solve his problems. Crying would only make him miserable and a cry baby. He had stopped crying knowing that it solved nothing nor did it make things better for him. At least smiling infuriated them, because they thought that he was ignoring them or their hateful glares were not doing their job.

He continued on to walk inside the academy. The academy was huge and had a lot of students inside of it. Naruto looked around for where he was supposed to attend his class.

''Hey it's that evil kid mother said we should avoid!''

''Yeh, but he does not look that evil to me, if anything he looks stupid to me. Who wears an orange jumpsuit?''

''Who cares if his evil or not, he is a new kid we should teach him a few rules.''

''Yeh, but not now, will be late for our class you know how sensei is when we get to class late.''

''Ahhhh, I forgot about that, let's hurry before we get yelled at.''

Naruto felt saddened upon hearing what his peers had been thinking of him. Even though some did not care what their parents told them about him, they were still willing to hate him for no good reason. Sometimes he hated what his life had turned out to be. The Yondaime was the one who cursed him. He was the one who sealed the Kyubi inside him and left him in the hands of a pack of vultures, who wanted nothing but to rip him into pieces.

He had learned to hate the Yondaime Hokage for doing what he did. If the Yondaime had not sealed the Kyubi inside of him, he would never have had to experience the kind of life he has been experiencing since birth. He did not care if the Yondaime did what he did to protect the village. Konoha was not worth it, it did not deserve him as a human sacrifice. They did not know what it felt like to know that somewhere inside your body there is a giant nine-tailed demon fox sleeping.

Sometimes he had those kinds of thoughts. But he often stopped himself from having such thoughts, because they did not make him a better person.

He walked towards his class and knocked. He had already been late by a few minutes.

'Enter'

He heard and opened the large two doors. Each eye was looking at him. Some students were staring at him with blank expressions, some in clear distaste. The stares started to make him nervous.

Naruto walked over to the two sensei's, who were standing in front of the class. Both the sensei's stares showed animosity towards him. The other sensei hid it well, but the other who had a scar on his nose did not bother to hide it. It was like he Naruto to know that he did not like him.

Naruto handed the man his registration form. The man looked at the form before looking at him. He looked back at his class, ''Class we have a new student who will be joining,'' He announced to his class, ''Why don't you introduce yourself?''

Naruto nodded, ''Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be the greatest ninja, ya know!'' Naruto yelled out.

He heard a couple of snickers and snorts but said nothing, he just continued smiling.

''Yeh right, no doubt you will be the greatest ninja, who knows when you do that we might even wear a kill me jumpsuit like you!'' One student called out in clear sarcasm. Naruto noted it, but did not comment.

The whole class erupted in laughter. Even the sensei's seemed amused by the sarcasm. Naruto just stood there with a wide grin while they laughed.

"That's enough!'' Nobody listened, ''I SAID THAT'S ENOUGH! NOW SHUT UP!'' The scar faced sensei yelled out causing everyone to wince at the sound of his voice.

''My name is Umino Iruka,'' Iruka introduced himself to Naruto, ''This is my assistant Mizuki, now go take a sit somewhere so I can continue with my lesson.''

Naruto nodded and walked towards the sit at the back of the room beside a window. He took his sit and looked back at Iruka.

''Now where was I... Yes I was teaching you Konoha's history...'' Naruto stopped listening and looked outside the window. He was not interested in the village's history. The history did not ensure his survival, but ninja skills ensured that he would survive. He entered the academy to get the ninja skills he needed not to learn history.

If someone could have been willing to teach him he would never have registered at the academy. No one was really willing to give the demon power. They feared that giving him power would only give him a chance to finish what he started seven years ago.

It almost amused Naruto that they hated him and feared him simultaneously. They hated him for the Kyubi and were not afraid to express their hate, and yet at the same time they feared that the sleeping beast would someday wake up and devour them. Even though their hatred has made them ignorant of some things, Naruto knew that deep inside their hearts they knew he was nothing but a prisoner of the kyubi. It was why they also feared him. They feared that someday he would free the beast. They could only imagine horrors the beast would cause should it be freed from its prison.

''NARUTO!'' He was snapped out of his thoughts by the angry voice of Umino Iruka.

''Can you repeat what I have been saying, Naruto?''

Naruto had not been listening to what the man had been saying. He had been lost in his thoughts.

''Eh you see, I was not listening'' He replied sheepishly with a grin.

Iruka glared him, ''Get out of my class, you will come back when you have decided to take my teaching seriously.''

Naruto said nothing he just took his small school bag and walked the walk of shame. He could not argue or refuse the punishment he was being given. Iruka was the sensei he could do whatever he wanted with his students. And Naruto was his student. Had he turned around he would have seen the smirk on Iruka's face.

He left the room and went to the play grounds. He would go back to class after lunch. His sensei did not seem he even wanted him in the class. It was better to go back to class after some time had passed.

Naruto was alone under a tree trying to get some sleep. He was bored. None of the kids in the playing ground were willing to play with him. 'Sorry but mother said I should not play with you because you are a bad person' they kept telling him.

He cursed the mothers for this

Had they kept their mouths shut he would never have been so bored at the moment. No matter how many times he asked himself why they saw a demon when they looked at him instead of the seven year old that he was. He could never find a suitable answer.

''It's the new kid lets 'play' with him.'' Naruto heard a voice speak just beside him.

''What is your name?''

Naruto looked up to see two boys, two years his senior. They looked alike, and both had black eyes, short brown hair. Both wore dark green short pants, dark blue long-sleeve shirt and blue shinobi sandals.

He was quiet for a few moments trying to think of a way to handle the situation. He knew that it was not going to end up good for him by the looks on their faces. He was not given enough time to think as he was suddenly lifted up in the air.

''First academy rule, answer the question quickly when asked.'' The one lifting him up said before throwing him away. Naruto showed no reaction as he hit the tree by his back. He was used to pain, he was no stranger to pain, and it would go away sooner or later.

One of the boys walked over to him and unzipped his backpack. He had a note book to copy notes and his lunch.

The boy took his book and lunch. Naruto said nothing, begging did not help, nothing helped in this kind situations. It was better to just let them do what they wanted and get over with it. They would leave him alone after they had finished what they wanted to do with him.

A foot crashed to his gut making him grunt slightly. He did not dwell on the pain something else mattered more than the pain. Naruto watched with sadness as his ramen was spilled to the ground. He did not have much ramen left or enough money to buy more ramen for that matter.

He had little money left in his monthly allowance. The Sandaime would never give him more money before the month could end. He had been overcharged a few things that he wanted, that put a large dent on his wallet. Seeing the food he paid good money for being spilled down like it was dirt saddened him, but there was nothing he could do about it.

''Next time, have a better lunch box.'' They said as they walked away with proud smirks. They had succeeded in bullying Naruto, what made them proud was that the blonde was so 'afraid' of them, he did not even try to put up a fight.

Naruto stared at his spilled ramen sadly. The next few years were surely going to be hard for him. But he would have to endure if he wants to be a ninja.

Naruto's apartment

The first day at the academy had gone far worse than he had anticipated. He had only thought he would have to deal with hateful stares only. But the bullying and insults from other students was not something he had thought he would have deal with. It was hard but he would have to endure till he passed the academy.

One thing that had been a shock to him was that the sensei's were not willing to teach him, he feared that they would even go as far as to fail him. He had expected them to hate him, but he did not expect them to act the way they did towards him. He had expected them to be smarter than the rest of the village, to be able to understand that he was just a seven year old who was suffering from the harsh life he was living. They teachers after all, teachers were supposed to be smart.

If he did not learn other things by himself he was not going to learn anything from the academy. Sneaking into the library was his only option. He had been unable to do it in the past year. It was closely guarded unlike the Jonin's lounge which was not guarded. But he would find a way to be able to get in the library undetected, his life depended on it.

Naruto walked to his kitchen and opened a drawer on his kitchen unit. He looked at his store of food, which was uncooked ramen only. He was low on food and did not have enough money to buy more food.

He sighed as a waited the three minutes of hell, waiting for ramen to cook. The ramen was cooked and he ate it blissfully. He felt that he needed more he decided to get some rest before he finished the little that was left.

A knock on his door interrupted him from taking off his jumpsuit. He hurried to open the door.

He opened the door and found the old man, Madara, who had saved him on his birthday. He just stood there staring at the old man. Madara was still in black and had two plastic bags on his left hand.

''Are you going to let me in?''

Naruto shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He let the old man in and closed the door behind him. Madara had already made his way to his kitchen table, Naruto followed suit.

He looked at the plastic bags, one had a loaf of bread, apples and oranges, the other had meat and some food staffs he did not know.

''What can I help with you?'' Naruto asked softly trying not to sound rude.

''I brought you food. I saw that you were running low of food.'' Madara replied with smile.

Naruto looked at Madara curiously before asking, ''How did you know I was running low on food?'' He had not told anyone that he was running low on food not even the Sandaime knew of it.

''I came here while you were at the academy and checked.'' He replied with a shrug.

''You broke into my apartment!'' Naruto accused with a slight glare to the old man.

''What if I did? I did not come here to steal anything, I came here to help you.''

Naruto asked the first thing that came to his mind, ''Why would you help?''

'The same question from the last time I saved him from the foolish villagers' Madara thought. ''Do you mean to say why I would help you knowing what is inside of you?'' He asked pointing at Naruto's gut.

Naruto was not surprised that Madara knew that he had the Kyubi inside of him, every adult in the village knew, it was only his generation that did not know. But what surprised him was that the old man said that he knew what Naruto had inside of him. What he had realized from smart people was that they thought he was not aware of his burden since no one was allowed to talk about it.

But the question Madara asked was the reason he did not expect anyone to be kind to him, so he nodded.

''I do not see you as others see you, you are just a child to me.'' Madara said sincerely.

Naruto nodded, he knew that a few smart people did not see him as the Kyubi, ''How did you know I knew about the Kyubi? Not even the Sandaime is aware I know.''

Madara chuckled, ''I know a lot more about you than you realize, but that's not why I came here.''

Naruto nodded, ''Thank you'' 'But there is no ramen' He finished with a thought.

Madara seemed to read his thoughts, ''You need to eat healthy food and fruits or your body will not develop properly''

Naruto nodded, the Sandaime had told him the same thing but, he did not take the Sandaime seriously because the old man knew he was not allowed in other shops, even if he was allowed he could not afford the food since they would overcharge him. If the Sandaime wanted him to eat healthy food he would have brought him the food he wanted him to eat knowing his 'problem'.

''Thank you'' Naruto thanked the old man again.

''I'm just doing what I can to help,'' He paused for a moment, ''How was your first day at the academy?'' he asked trying to see if Naruto would lie about it.

Naruto frowned he really did not need to talk about it. The old man was sincere with him and had helped him, it was fair for him to be honest and he felt like he could be honest with the old man. ''Just like my birthdays except this time there was no mob and I did not end up in the hospital, but I will survive.'' He replied honestly.

Madara nodded and smiled slightly, ''I know, that is why next week I will bring you some books for you to study.''

Naruto beamed up brightly the moment those words reached his ears, he cared not for any other things. As long as he was going to get some reading done, he was happy, ''Really?''

Madara nodded ''Yes, I'm getting old, and I don't have much to do, helping you will keep me active.''

''Neh old man, don't you have your own family?''

''Don't call me old man, my name is Madara!'' He said firmly. Every old person did not like to be reminded that they were old.

Naruto grinned widely, ''Sorry''

''To answer your question, I do not have any family, they are all dead.'' He said without any hint of emotion.

Naruto just nodded since he had no idea what to say. At least the old man had no one, like him.

Madara stood up, ''I better get going before it gets too dark to walk''

Naruto nodded and walked the man out of the apartment. Madara smiled at Naruto before disappearing once again like he was never there.

Naruto closed his door and went to the kitchen with a slight smile on his face. He had to be pleased. He finally had someone who was willing to help him other than the Sandaime.

If Madara does bring him the books like he said he would, he would never have to worry about getting caught in the library trying to 'borrow' books. It would not matter if they did not teach him anything in the academy, he could learn on his own, at his own apartment. His life had taken a new turn he had not expected. This day had its surprises, some bad, and some good, but the good thing was he was going to sleep with a smile on his face.

The food the old man had brought him was another good thing. He took an apple and went to his room to sleeping without even packing the food he was given. He told himself he would pack tomorrow, at the moment he needed to rest.

Unknown location

A figure with red eyes, three tomoes in each, one would define the eyes as the sharingan, walked in a slightly dark place. He had an impassive gaze on his face and a cane on his right hand.

A plant-like figure appeared from the ground in front of him. It had yellow eyes, its right side was white while its left side was black, and it wore a black cloak.

''How did it go?''

''It went well.'' the sharingan wielder replied his voice not betraying the expression on his face.

''Did you tell him?'' the plant-like figure asked in a deep voice.

''No, not yet, I need to gain his trust first but if I continue showing myself to him he will ask questions which will lead me to telling him the truth.''

''What now?''

''For now we wait, Zetsu, but we won't wait for too long.'' He replied disappearing into the darkness. The plant-like figure now revealed to be Zetsu said nothing, he sank back into the ground disappearing like he was never there.

Hokage Monument

It has been three months since Madara started to bring him things. He now ate without having to worry if he was going to run out of food or not. Even though Naruto himself would deny it, he had gained some weight since he had been eating a healthy diet. Madara brought him healthy food instead of the ramen he ate each time his stomach called for food. It was good for him since he did enjoy eating other food rather than eating ramen.

His studies had progressed at a higher rate than he had expected. At the academy he still did act like an idiot, it was Madara's idea that he did not show people that he was smart. It did not matter though, even if he wanted to show that he was smart he would never get the chance because, he was never asked to answer a question.

Naruto agreed with Madara's idea, showing that he was smart would attract a lot of attention he would rather not have attracted.

He had gotten close to Madara, in such a way that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays they ate dinner together. They always did it in Naruto's apartment. He had never been or seen where Madara lived. The old man never really gave him a clear answer on questions about himself. He always gave him cryptic answers that he could not decipher. It was why he needed answers from the old man. He would ask the old man when he visits him today. He was going to get answers one way or the other.

Naruto looked over Konohagakure from the Hokage monument with a solemn expression on his face. He set on top of Shondaime's head. He had stopped sitting on top of the Yondaime's head because he sort of hated the man.

The Hokage monument was a place that brought him at peace with himself. There was no one to stare at him. He did not have to listen to the whispers. He enjoyed the cool breeze that washed over him when the day was giving way to night. If he could live at the place, he would have moved up here already.

He had only seen the Sandaime a few times in the past three months. The old man had been asking why he rarely visited him since entering the academy. He had told the old man the part truth of why he no longer visited like he used. His meetings with Madara were to remain a secret till he felt like telling someone about it or Madara said it was okay. But even if Madara did say it was okay he never really planned to tell anyone about it if he did not feel like it.

The part truth he told the Sandaime was that he had been busy with attending the academy. He never missed a day. He was always present each day at class looking like a fool.

Other students made it a recurring matter that they make fun of him for his kill-me orange jumpsuit. He did not care what anyone thought about his jumpsuit, he would wear it till he chooses to abandon it. They could laugh all they wanted he cared not for it.

Konoha was peaceful when looking over at it from the Hokage monument. The children were roaming around the village playing games while the elders stood in their groups conversing. One could say it was an ideal village, but what was hidden under those masks of happiness where things that could frighten anyone.

It sometimes amused Naruto because if he were to go walk within the village streets, the adults would stop conversing and just stare at him, while others pretended like he did not exist. Yes, there were people within the village who refused to acknowledge his existence. They lived as though he did not exist. Something like that brought him more pain. It hurt him more than the pain he felt in one of his brutal beat-ups on his birthdays.

Naruto got up and decided to visit the ramen stand. It had been long since he visited the Icharaku's.

Icharaku Ramen stand

Naruto walked calmly to the ramen stand. It seemed that people could sense whenever he decided to visit the ramen stand and make way for him. Most of the time when he went to the place it was always empty except when he went with the Sandaime.

Naruto took a sit, today he would make up for lost time ''Ayame-nee-chan!'' He called out to his sister figure.

Ayame was like an older sister to him, just as her father was like a grandfather. Both Icharaku's cared for him, and did not care about how the villagers viewed him. They were the only to allow him to eat freely without overcharging him. Sometimes they would even give him free ramen when he had no money to pay.

Naruto liked them too, they were kind people. They made him like he belonged within the village.

A brown haired girl with black eyes and in a white cloth stepped behind the counter from the kitchen. She smiled brightly upon seeing Naruto.

She pulled him over a bone crushing hug. If Naruto was a pervert or understood 'adult' things he would have been over the moon. His head was perfectly placed between Ayame's breasts. All it did was make him feel uncomfortable. Ayame noticed and let him go.

''Naruto I missed you! I haven't seen you in three months, were have you been?''

Naruto grinned scratching the back of his head, ''I got into the ninja academy, so I have been busy lately.'' he replied.

The only words Ayame heard were 'ninja academy', ''You are a student at the academy?''

Naruto nodded proudly. ''I'm so happy for you! I know father will be pleased too. I will give you 6 free bowls of ramen as my gift for making it to the academy.''

''Good, then make it 26 bowls of miso and pork ramen, and keep em coming!'' Naruto said with a wide grin.

Ayame shook her head and went on to get Naruto's ramen. The blonde still had his appetite for ramen, the number of ramen bowls Naruto ate still amazed her. Had he been an Akimichi she would not have been amazed. She was positive that Naruto could eat more bowls of ramen than an Akimichi. Something that was unheard of, nobody ate more than the Akimichi. But with the way Naruto ate ramen anything was possible.

She came back with 5 bowls, she would get the rest after he finished, ''How is the academy, have you...?'' she cursed herself for almost asking if he had made friends, when she knew that Naruto was not well liked.

''Boring, all they teach us is some useless things, they haven't started teaching us cool ninja things.'' naruto replied, he did guess what Ayame wanted to ask in her unfinished question, but chose not to dwell on it.

Ayame nodded, ''I can't believe my little Naruto is going to be a ninja one day.''

''I am going to be a ninja, not just a ninja but the greatest ninja in Konoha, believe it!'' Naruto replied in a loud voice.

Ayame smiled at his antics, she might not have seen him in a few months but he was still the Naruto knew and cared for.

''When will you graduate? I doubt you will graduate anytime soon, you are a little too young to be a ninja.'' she said going back to the kitchen to get more of Naruto's ramen.

''I don't know, they have not told us how long we had to stay in the academy before we can become ninja's.'' Naruto replied after Ayame had returned with his ramen.

''Okay, promise me that you won't disappear again without even telling me.''

''It won't happen again, that's a promise!'' naruto replied with a grin.

Ayame nodded, ''I will in the kitchen, call me if you need anything.'' she said disappearing to the kitchen.

Naruto nodded and ate his ramen alone. He was happy that Ayame was still the same.

He finished all of his bowls and paid for them, leaving the ramen stand. He walked slowly in the streets of the village ignoring the whispers from the villagers. Giving the whispers time was only going to cause a problem to him once he hears what they were saying. It was better to ignore them and live your own life.

They could talk, but he wouldn't give it time, unless they came and forced him to listen to what they were saying.

Naruto increased his pace when his apartment came into view.

Naruto's apartment

Today was a day Naruto was going to meet with Madara again. It was this day he was going to get answers he needed from the old man.

Naruto set down in his kitchen with a solemn look on his face. He was contemplating how he was going to start the conversation with the old man. It did not please him knowing that people knew more about himself than he did himself. It was the same thing with the Sandaime, the old man knew things about him that he was not aware of, but chose to keep them from him. He did not care for the reasons behind that decision. The fact was that important information was kept from him intentionally.

Keeping things from him was not beneficial to him, in fact it damned him. Because he had to come to conclusions on his own, his mind could only make up things that ended badly. He lived in hell because the truth was being intentionally kept from him. He was condemned to live without knowing who his father or mother were when there were people who knew about it, but kept it from him.

Madara was another situation, he could not figure out what the old man was hiding, but he knew that the old man was hiding things from him. There was no way Madara could have done all he has done for him out of kindness alone.

He could never figure out what the old man was thinking. The old man was impossible to read, he could read the Sandaime, but not always. He was only able to read the old man, when the old man wanted him to read him. Oh he knew that the old man let him read him when he wanted Naruto to see that he was being sincere. Other than that there was nothing, nothing at all.

A knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts. He did not bother to go open the door, if it was the old man, he would open the door. That has been something he was used to, he had a feeling that the old man would never do anything to hurt him. That kind of assurance disturbed him as he knew nothing of Madara.

He did not wait for too long as Madara stepped into his kitchen in his usual black attire. ''Hello Naruto.'' Madara greeted the boy.

Naruto just nodded, he did not feel like doing the usual chit chat. Madara noticed, but seemed amused by it, ''I have questions, that need to be answered!''

Madara's expression turned into an impassive one, ''I was wondering when you would say that.'' his voice did not betray the look on his face.

''Who are you?''

''I know you are a lot more controlled, but I will ask to be calm and don't freak out with what I'm about to tell you.''

Naruto raised a brow but nodded, ''In the of the history books I gave you there was a man called Uchiha Madara, correct?'' Naruto nodded, ''I know it may sound untrue but I am that man.''

Naruto eyes widened, that was just unbelievable, Madara lived in the times of the first Hokage, and he was supposed to be dead by now, ''That can't be true, Madara died during his battle with the Shondaime.''

''Yes that's what history books say, but that's not the truth.''

''Even if Madara did survive the encounter there is no way he could still be alive, unless he was an Uzumaki but still even if he was an Uzumaki he still could not be possibly be alive at this time.'' Madara had given Naruto books in history of both Uzumaki and Senju clans.

Madara sighed the boy was not going to believe him, well not now, ''Okay since you are not going to believe me about that how about I tell you about your parents.'' Madara suggested knowing full well that Naruto would forget about the previous conversation in favor of learning something about his parents.

He was not disappointed. Naruto was in front of him with wide eyes, ''Do you know who they were?''

''Yes, now sit properly because this is going to be hard to take in.'' He said knowing that Naruto hated the Yondaime for sealing the Kyubi inside of him, and telling him how closely related to the Yondaime...

Naruto nodded dumbly and went back to his chair.

"Let me start with your mother, your mother was the jinchuriku of the Kyubi….." the moment those words reached naruto's ears his eyes became wide. He could not believe it, his mother was a jinchuriku of the Kyubi, and no one has ever spoken of the Kyubi being sealed inside of another person. He shared the same burden as his mother did, "before it was sealed inside of you. The night of your birth someone ripped the Kyubi out of your mother's seal, thus the Kyubi went on a rampage. Sadly, she died that night, her name was Kushina Uzumaki"

**See you next chapter, ja ne! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Another revised chapter**

**C****hapter 2**

He was at a loss of words because of what he had been told. He had a mother. He did not just fall from the sky.

He was both happy and sad, he now knew a little of his mother. She was a jinchuriku of the Kyubi. He had taken up her burden. A part of him always knew that his parents were not alive. His mother died the day he was born, the day the Kyubi went on a rampage. 'Kushina Uzumaki,' that was his mother's name. A hole in his heart seemed to close slightly, but it could never be completely closed as it lacked a mother's love.

Naruto smiled sadly before looking back at Madara. He wanted to thank the old man for telling him something that the Sandaime had failed to. It was of great importance to him to know a little about his parents. His voice betrayed him, not a single word came out from his mouth.

Madara continued, ''Your father was Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage. That fool and your mother died sealing the Kyubi inside of you.'' Madara said.

Naruto's blood began to boil furious, his body was heating, and it began to sweat. Clear anger flashed in his eyes. Madara seemed to like seeing Naruto boil in anger.

Before his body could start releasing steam due to the heat on his body, Naruto calmed himself down. The bastard who cursed him was his father. He could not understand how any father would do that to his own child. Minato chose the village over his own son.

The thought made him hate the man to a higher level. If he had the power, he would go to the Hokage's monument and destroy that man's face. The anger he felt was enough to make him draw out the Kyubi's chakra unconsciously, but it receded once he calmed down.

He was glad for whoever gave him his mother's name. He hated Namikaze, and everything that has to do with him. He hated the fact that the man's blood was inside of his body. If the Namikaze blood could be drained from his body he would have it drained.

''You look a lot like him, have you noticed?''

The horrors continued for Naruto, he did look like a younger version of the bastard. He had the same blonde hair and blue eyes as the bastard. He could see pictures of the Yondaime smiling at him, 'You might hate me but you still my son and you look a lot like me.' He banished the thoughts quickly before he could do something he would later regret.

''Minato was a fool to think that the village would accept you as a hero.''

Naruto nodded it was a foolish thought by the 'great' Yondaime Hokage, ''How come no one has ever spoken of my mother's name, there is nowhere in history books that says she was a jinchuriku?''

''All records about her were destroyed, and her jinchuriku status was kept a secret only a select few in high positions knew of it.''

His mother was made none-exist because of foolish beliefs. They celebrated the Yondaime as a hero while his mother was not spoken, she died and no one ever speaks of it. Her name was not even written in the history books, he blamed the Yondaime for that. It was the same as him; he who carried the burden was hated, while the Yondaime who ran off to die was worshiped. He hated the bastard, if he was still alive, he would give nothing more than to see the man die a slow painful death, while he watches.

Naruto shook his head banishing the evil thoughts that were on his mind. Thinking such things was not going to do anything good for him. It would just destroy him from the inside. He looked at Madara, ''How come you know all of this, I'm sure none of the villagers know of it, if they did they wouldn't dare hate the only child of their beloved Yondaime.'' he said the last part bitterly.

''I know of this because I was Kushina's father, your grandfather. That is why I have been helping you for the past moths.''

Naruto's eyes widened, the fact that the man called himself Uchiha Madara was long forgotten, what was important was that the old man has just said he was his grandfather. A part of him always knew that the old man was connected with him.

A few tears dropped from his eyes, he had promised himself that he would never cry again, but he could make an exception just for this time. He was happy, he had a grandfather. Naruto smiled a true happy smile that Madara had never seen from the boy. A thought popped out of Naruto's head, ''If you are truly my grandfather, how come you were never there for me in the past years?''

Madara sighed, ''I had never returned to the village ever since I defected, and by the time you were born I could no longer walk, it is through all kinds of experiments that I was able to get myself to be mobile again, though not forever.''

''Somehow I believe that you are my grandfather but I don't believe that you could be Uchiha Madara''

Madara nodded, ''Given it time, and you will believe me''

''I don't doubt that you are an Uchiha because of your eyes. But I don't get it you are Uchiha, if you are my grandfather, shouldn't that have made mother an Uchiha?''

''It did, but your grandmother and I part ways when she was still caring your mother. Your grandmother was an Uzumaki, a seal master. When Kushina was born she placed a seal on her that somehow made it impossible for Kushina's Uchiha blood to be dominant.'' Madara explained bitterly, he hated that woman for doing what she did, even though he had no use for a girl.

Naruto nodded, anything was possible with the art of sealing. A giant fur ball was sealed inside of him because of the art. So he would be foolish not to believe that something like that could be done. What he had been told had drained him of his energy, it was enough for his young mind, ''This is a bit too much for me! I think I need to get some rest.''

Madara nodded, ''I will come back in a few days, we have much to discuss.'' he said taking his leave.

Naruto went away to his bed to get some rest. It would help clear his mind. What he had learned today was too much for him, tomorrow he was not even going to the academy he needed to deal with the information he had been told first.

The Sandaime had hid too much information from him. He was not going to confront the old man about it, no everything would continue just as it had been that was for certain. But other things were surely going to change. He had a grandfather, a family who cared for him. That was enough to change everything.

Another certain thing was that he did not have a father and never had a father. As far as he was concerned Minato Namikaze was not his father, he forfeited that right when he cursed him and died a hero while he was condemned to live a cursed life.

Naruto sighed as he jumped into his small bed. He did not even bother to take off his jumpsuit, rest was more important than undressing.

**A few days later**

Madara was staring at Naruto with an impassive gaze. He had returned to see Naruto and discuss a few things with the boy. There was no need for him to be smiling he had already told the boy everything. It was why he was not smiling at the moment.

''Have you cleared your thoughts?''

Naruto nodded, ''Yes, grandfather.'' he replied with a smile. He had come to accept that the old was his grandfather.

Madara's face remained impassive, ''Good, now then you and I have a lot to discuss, but not here.'' Madara said taking Naruto's hand. Both disappeared into thin air.

Naruto found himself in a dark place. ''Follow me.'' Madara said walking away from Naruto. Naruto followed his grandfather into the darkness. They appeared in what appeared to be a kitchen, both took their sits.

''What is this place?''

''This is my hideout. I have been hiding out in here for years now.''

''Are we out of Konoha?''

''Yes, now enough of those questions. I am happy that you have believed that I am truly your grandfather. For a jinchuriku especially the Kyubi's you are bound to face tough challenges ahead. You life will always be in danger of being taken. Once other villages know that you are a jinchuriku of the Kyubi they might try to kidnap you for the power of the Kyubi. It is my duty to ensure that when the challenges do come you can protect yourself. That is why from now on as your grandfather I will make sure that you are trained. I will be your sensei. Do you have a problem with that?'' Although the question was asked, the tone in which the question was asked gave Naruto the thought that he really did not have a choice. So he shook his head.

''Good, I only have a few years before this body gives up, I have lived too long. In these few years I must train you and make sure that I 'build' your body to be a powerful body,'' He paused for a moment ''Naruto, you will have to live two lives from now on. What I show you here can never be revealed to anyone until I say so is that clear?'' Naruto nodded, ''I will cast a genjutsu on you, to make hide the changes that will occur to your body once you begin training.''

''When do we begin training?''

''Now''

''What?''

''Listen boy, I don't have much time, I allowed you to enjoy your childhood for the past months, but from now on you will no longer be pampered like a child. Your childhood is over.''

Naruto looked at his grandfather with wide eyes. The man was taking over his life.

Madara sighed looking at Naruto, ''Fine we will begin your training in a week, for now I will show you around the hideout so that you can become familiar with it.''

''Jiji, what about the academy and Konoha?''

''You will be at Konoha. We will just have to find a way for you to be at two places at once as time goes on.''

Madara showed Naruto around the large hideout. But he did not show Naruto everything. He only showed him the rooms and training ground he would use when he is in the hideout. There was another time for the boy to see everything within the hideout. Naruto had to know everything he needed to know before he saw everything in the hideout. Now was not the right time to tell Naruto everything.

After he had done that he took Naruto back to Konoha. He would go fetch the blonde in a week to begin the training he needed to give the boy.

Naruto was excited, although a bit sad that his grandfather was too demanding. He was just happy that he was going to get real training done. Soon he would be able to defend himself. He was also sad that his grandfather did not have much time. But a few years was enough, at least he would have known his grandfather. His grandfather spoke of his death like he was going to die soon.

**Academy**

Naruto walked into the class with his usual grin planted on his face. He had been early for the class today because he had missed classes the previous two days. He went onto take a sit next to a sleeping boy, with black hair.

''Shikamaru'' Naruto called out waking up the sleeping boy.

He had been able to find a few people he could talk with and play with whenever he was at the academy. They were like his friends. Nara Shikamaru, the Nara clan heir, was smart, too smart for his own good. He had been the first person to talk to Naruto kindly.

Shikamaru, despite being a genius like any Nara, he was lazy. The boy spent his time sleeping or looking at the clouds. He seemed to be always bored, like there is nothing that can interest him.

Shikamaru was understanding and different from other kids. He knew that Naruto was hated, through observation. It was why he had invited Naruto to play with him and his friends. Despite knowing that Naruto was hated, Shikamaru did not why. His brains had been unable to find an answer.

Shikamaru had a friend who was also a clan heir, Choji Akimichi. Choji was just as kind as Shikamaru, though he did not possess a great mind as his best friend. Like all Akimichi, Choji was always eating chips at the academy. Nothing other than food excited the boy. He would even go as far as to drool if someone spoke of barbecued meat.

Naruto met the boy when Shikamaru had asked him to come and play with him. Choji and Shikamaru were the only two Naruto would consider friends. He spent his breaks with them. Both avoided trouble at all cost, Shikamaru found it too troublesome to get involved in a hustle.

The two were not the only people who did not treat Naruto with hatred. He also knew Kiba Inuzuka, the loud, brash heir of the Inuzuka clan. Kiba always liked to be seemed as the dominant alpha. Naruto guessed it was just the Inuzuka blood acting up. It was as if Kiba felt he needed to make his position as alpha known, whenever he felt threatened.

Kiba was always with his puppy, Akamaru. They were always together, Kiba would freak out should Akamaru go missing for a minute. It was a custom that any Inuzuka have a dog as a partner, as their fighting style involved working with their partners, which were their dogs.

Shino Aburame, the Aburame clan heir. Naruto did not understand the boy at all. Shino was always quite and never showed any emotion. He was smart but not like Shikamaru.

"Mmm…The troublesome blonde, do you have to do you have to wake me up every time you find me sleeping?'' Shikamaru grunted shifting his head.

Naruto grinned, ''Did your mother wake you up too early again?'' if there was something that Shikamaru found more troublesome than anything, it was his mother, and he also feared her more than anything. His mother did not like his lazy attitude. It was why she had taken it upon herself to wake Shikamaru each morning. If she did not do something like that Shikamaru would avoid coming to the academy as he found it boring and troublesome, or he would be late to class every day.

''Yes, that troublesome woman never lets me sleep peacefully, where have you been in the past days?''

''Eh...Home, did not feel like attending the previous days.'' Naruto replied with a shrug.

''Man I wish I was you.'' Shikamaru said going back to sleep making Naruto shake his head.

Naruto felt a pair of eyes staring at him. He turned around to see the person who had been staring at him. The Hyuga heiress looked away quickly upon seeing that she been caught staring.

'Hyuga Hinata' Naruto thought looking at the Hyuga heiress. He found the girl weird. She acted oddly around him. What Naruto had been able to understand about the girl was that she was very shy and lacked self-confidence.

Her behavior was amusing to say the least. It was also unheard of, for a Hyuga to lack self-confidence especially a heiress of the clan. Hyuga were much more discipline and self-controlled, taught a superiority complex at a young age. It made Naruto wonder what might have happened to make the girl lose her self-confidence.

That side of the girl, a side that lacked confidence, Naruto saw it as pathetic. The world had no place for people who did not believe in themselves, once you fail to believe in yourself, you were hopeless. You can never hope to achieve anything if you lacked self-confidence. But despite her lack of self-confidence Naruto did notice that she was kind hearted.

Naruto's eyes were taken off the girl as the doors burst open revealing Sasuke Uchiha, the top student of the class. Naruto did not like the Uchiha's attitude, it was why he never spent a second wasting his thoughts on the boy.

The Uchiha looked out of breath. 'Fan girls' Naruto thought. The Uchiha was popular in the female department. He was usually being chased around the academy by his fan girls. Sasuke did not seem to like girls. In fact he tried by all means to avoid them. When he could not avoid them, he ignored them when they tried to speak to him. Some of the boys in the class wished they had the young Uchiha's luck when it came to girls. Girls threw themselves at the Uchiha, while they had to try hard to get a girl to talk with them.

Kiba resented Sasuke for that fact. He even went on as far as to try to embarrass Sasuke to get the girls to like him and leave Sasuke. The result, Kiba ended up in a hospital bed, not because he got beat up by Sasuke, no it was rather the fan girls that pummeled the boy. From that day till now, Kiba has learnt to hate Sasuke.

The doors burst open again, two girls rushed into the class, one was wearing a pink dress, she had pink hair, and green eyes. This girl's name was Haruno Sakura, the president of the Uchiha fan club. On her right was a blonde haired girl same height as Sakura. The girl's name was Ino Yamanaka, heir of the Yamanaka clan. She was the vice president of the Uchiha fan club.

Both girls were huge admires of Sasuke. They were best friends and rivals when it came to fighting for Sasuke's attention and affection. None of the girls have had any luck so far, but their failure on encouraged them to do more.

Sakura was way too loud for Naruto's liking. He has clashed with her a few times. Sasuke knew that Naruto was not the most liked in the class, thus he often chose to sit next to Naruto to drive away the fan girls. His choice drove away most of the fan girls but not Sakura. She would yell at Naruto to get him to go sit somewhere else so she could sit next to her 'Sasuke-kun'. Naruto obviously refused to do so each time. But his refusal would only get him smacked in the face by the girl. Despite her being weak, her punches really hurt.

The class began to fill and the mutterings began. Naruto thought of taking a nap but decided against it seeing that Iruka would show up in class at any time soon.

A minute later the chunin teacher walked inside the class with a stack of paper. The class quieted down, as the students did not want to fall victim of Iruka's wrath. Iruka smiled at his students, ''Good morning my students, I hope you are prepared for test!''

Naruto looked at Shikamaru with shock written all over his face, ''Hey Shikamaru, why did not you tell that there was a test today?''

''It was too troublesome'' Shikamaru said with a yawn.

Naruto said nothing, he did not care about passing the test, he still had a few years in the academy to make up for lost time should it be necessary. He was the demon and an idiot, an idiot he would give them, for anyway.

They were given 30 minutes to complete the test. The test was not that hard, it was just a history test. There was nothing that Naruto did not know, but to be an idiot that people wanted to see, he answered the questions that even someone with half brains would answer. The only questions he answered where the ones where they asked the names of Hokage's.

After the test, Iruka gave them a lecture before letting them go home.

Naruto walked beside Choji and Shikamaru as they made their way out of the academy grounds.

''Naruto, Shikamaru and I are going to get some barbecued pork. You can come with us if you want to.'' Choji said rubbing his stomach.

Naruto shook his head, ''sorry Choji, I will pass today.''

''Man, I had thought we would do another eating contest...well that just means more food for me.''

Naruto chuckled, ''I will see you guys tomorrow.'' he said increasing his pace.

''Come on Shikamaru let's get going before your mother comes looking for you!''

Shikamaru said nothing, he just followed Choji. If his mother was to find him at this time she would have him do hard work he would rather avoid.

**A few days later**

The Uchiha massacre, one of the greatest tragedies to have ever occurred in Konoha, beside the Kyubi's rampage! The whole Uchiha clan was massacred by Uchiha Itachi, only leaving his little brother Uchiha Sasuke alive. One man massacred an entire clan in a single night. The Uchiha clan was supposed to be the strongest clan in Konoha since their great rivals, the Senju had now gone extinct, and only one person was alive from the great Senju clan.

Uchiha Itachi, he was said to be a prodigy, the strongest Uchiha alive. Naruto wondered what kind of power Itachi must have possessed to be able to massacre an entire clan in one night. He had to be surely powerful to pull off something like that.

The reason the Uchiha had killed his clan was that he wanted to test his power. It was a reason that would make everyone to think that he had lost it, power had corrupted him. From what Naruto had been hearing about Itachi was that Itachi had been a kind and peaceful person before he became an ANBU. After he had become an ANBU, he became cold and distant. A change that not many liked, but he still did his job as a shinobi with all his heart. What was certain from those who knew him was that Itachi loved konoha.

That was being questioned by everyone, who loved a village and still massacres the village's strongest clan, his own family?

The Uchiha fled the village after he had massacred his own clan and was now labeled an S-rank missing-nin. Only a select few had been able to reach that level of being ranked S-rank. S-rank level shinobi could fight against a kage, but not all could defeat a kage.

Still for Itachi to reach the level of S-rank still being a teen was something worth applauding. Not many people could achieve the kind of feet that Uchiha Itachi had achieved.

Konoha was in chaos. Their great clan had been massacred. Some clan's increased security in their compounds to ensure that the tragedy that fell on the Uchiha did not to hit them. No one knew if another clan prodigy would massacre his clan just to test his strength. Itachi had done it, who knew another prodigy would not follow his path?

Naruto did not feel sad for that a clan he was part of was massacred. He did not care about what happened to them. He just pitied Sasuke, knowing that the young Uchiha would be crushed. Having your own brother kill your parents and your clan was something that one could not just shrug off as if it was nothing.

Naruto sighed as he walked inside his grandfather's hideout. His grandfather was beside him.

They arrived at a large clearing. The place Madara had told Naruto would be his training ground.

''Grandfather, do you know of the Uchiha clan massacre?''

Madara nodded, ''Yes, those traitors got what they deserved.''

Naruto looked at his grandfather curiously. He had come to accept his grandfather was indeed Uchiha Madara, the former Uchiha clan leader and co-founder of Konohagakure. He thought the man would be a little sad that a clan he once led was massacred. ''Why do you call them traitors?''

''When I founded Konoha with that other man, Konoha selected him as first Hokage instead of me. I told my clan that the Senju would oppress us and seek to control us. But those fools refused to believe me and supported Hashirama. They said I had lost it. Over the past years the Uchiha were stripped of their power in Konoha, and reduced to mere police force with no real power.'' Madara said looking at Naruto.

Naruto could see that his grandfather was truly happy that the Uchiha clan had been massacred. Another thing he noticed was that his grandfather held a great deal of animosity towards Hashirama. But he still respected the man for his power.

''How powerful do you think Uchiha Itachi was, to be able to massacre his own clan?''

''He is strong for a shinobi of this generation, but he is no where strong as I was in my prime,'' Madara paused for a moment, ''Do you really believe that Itachi massacred the Uchiha clan because he wanted to test his power?''

Naruto nodded, Madara shook his head, ''They were killed because of ignorance. They had come to realize that Konoha leaders were pushing them away from the village they founded. They had lost any power they had and could no longer influence the village in any way. They had also lost trust in the eyes of many Konoha villagers because they were blamed for the kyubi rampage as some believed that the kyubi was being controlled by a sharingan. Had they listened to me nothing like this would have happened.''

''I still don't understand how that got them killed!''

''They were attempting a coup d'état to take over the village. It was the only way they could get their power back. Something like that would have led to a civil war, other villages like Kumo and Iwa would have taken the opportunity to attack Konoha.'' Madara explained seeing it no point in leaving Naruto out in the dark about the truth.

Naruto had wide eyes at the implications of what his grandfather was saying, ''So Itachi killed his clan to avoid a civil war?''

Madara nodded, ''You catch on fast''

''How do you know this Jiji? You spend your time here and the massacre only occurred Four days ago.''

Madara smiled placing his hand on top of Naruto's head. ''I know everything that happens in Konoha, nothing can be hidden from me, I am a co-founder of the village, when the village was build I was there,'' He paused retrieving his hand, ''Now shall we begin our training?''

''Yes, I think I will stay here for a few days since academy has been closed for three weeks.'' Naruto said.

Madara nodded, he already knew that, ''Before we begin your training I want you to meet someone.''

Zetsu appeared from the ground, ''Naruto this is Zetsu, he already knows you.''

Naruto waved his head his hand at Zetsu and then looked at Madara, ''What is he?''

Madara chuckled slightly, ''He is my spy, my creation.''

Naruto only understood spy, he did not understand what Madara meant by creation. It was not possible for someone to create life, right?

''You can go, Zetsu'' Zetsu sank back to the ground.

Madara turned to Naruto, ''We will begin your training in physical training. I need you to have a strong body. For the next year you will not go back to Konoha but you will be in training each day, after you awaken your sharingan we can then focus on ninjutsu.''

''Won't the Sandaime start looking for me if I go missing for that long?''

''Don't worry I will help you create a blood clone that will replace you in Konoha for the next year. The clone will last for a year, it will be a replica of you, no one will tell the difference''

Naruto nodded and smiled brightly, ''Now let's begin with the training!'' He yelled struggling to contain his excitement.

Madara grinned. It was a grin that made Naruto to think twice about allowing his grandfather to train him. The grin Madara had promised pain, a painful training that Naruto would soon have to endure. Madara did not stop grinning as he was busy picturing the torture he was going to put Naruto through.

''Eh grandfather, are you okay?''

Madara stopped grinning, ''Yeh I am okay, put this weights on!''

Naruto put on the weights on his legs, but found it nearly impossible to move. He looked at his grandfather thinking that he would let him half the weight, but his grandfather shook his head, ''Do 50 laps, after that 50 sit ups, 100 punches and kicks on that dummy. I will be watching your progress from here.''

Naruto stood unmoving for a minute. His grandfather hit him in the head with his cane telling him to begin his training. Naruto dragged his body and began his training, which he believed was a little harsh for a seven year old.

At the end of the day Naruto had lost consciousness. Zetsu had to carry him off to his room within the huge hideout.

When he woke up he cursed his grandfather. Madara was quick to point out that with Naruto's healing abilities because he housed the Kyubi any damaged muscles would be healed while he was sleeping. 'It would be foolish not to take that advantage.' Madara said. Though Naruto could agree it would be foolish not to take advantage of his healing abilities, it did not mean he had to like the kind of training his grandfather was putting him through.

''Don't worry it only hurts this much because it was your first day. Once you get used to the weights, and your body adapts to the training program, you won't be complaining anymore.'' Madara said.

Naruto just nodded he needed to rest. The old man had told him when he woke up they would have to begin the training in the morning, only taking breaks to let him recover.

**6 months later**

Madara had just finished telling Naruto about the Sage of Six Paths. He needed to start at the beginning for Naruto to understand why he was going to do 'things' to his body.

Naruto listened well when his grandfather was telling him about the sage and his legendary eyes the **Rinnegan.** The eyes that gave the Sage the ability to learn any Jutsu in existence, control over life and death. Something like that really made the man a god, you had to be god to have control over life and death, to be able to bring the dead back to life.

''The Sage had two children, Senju and Uchiha. The Senju posses the Sage's physical power and life force while Uchiha possessed the Sage's eyes. In my fight with Hashirama I was able to get his cells and infused them in my body. As I told you the Sage was made out of Uchiha and Senju. I experimented on myself trying to achieve the power of the Sage. With Hashirama's cells I was able to get his power, the ability to do **Mokuton jutsu.** At my old age, I was able to unlock the Rinnegan because I had both Uchiha and Senju powers.''

Naruto looked at his grandfathers eyes, Madara spoke, I transplanted them to a Uzumaki orphan.''

''Why did you do that?'' he could not understand why someone would give away a powerful doujutsu like the Rinnegan.

''I will tell you about it later, right now we have other things to deal with.''

Naruto nodded, ''So the reason you have Hashirama's face in your chest is because you infused his cells into yourself?''

Madara nodded, ''Naruto, I want to infuse my cells and Hashirama's cells. I might hate that man, but I respect him for his power. I know Mokuton is powerful, which is why I want you to be able to use it so that you may be able to stand against your future enemies. Having Senju cells will allow you to awaken the Rinnegan once the cells bond with yours.''

Naruto was quiet for a few minutes. Whether he liked it or not his grandfather seemed set on to do what he wanted to do on his body. ''Grandfather, will I also have Hashirama's face on my chest, I already look like Namikaze, and to have Hashirama's face on my body will be too much for me.'' Madara had been teaching Naruto to hate Senju, especially Hashirama. So to Naruto, looking like his father who he hated was already punishment enough. Having Hashirama's face on his chest would be too much for him to bear, since his grandfather he made him hate the man.

''You won't have Hashirama's face on your chest. What I am going to be doing is to infuse both my and Hashirama's cells with your body. Once the cells bond with your body, they will be part of your own body. You will no longer have Hashirama's Mokuton and Senju cells, but you will have your own Mokuton cells. Your body will produce both Senju and Uchiha blood once I'm with your body. If it is done like me, Hashirama's cells will overcome you, killing you when your body is weak and you don't have the chakra to suppress them. At your age, they came overcome you at any moment.''

''Okay….. and your cells? I already have Uchiha blood.''

Madara shrugged, ''I want you to have my power too. I was just as powerful as Hashirama. It is only fair that you also have my cells.''

Naruto shook his head his grandfather was too proud of his own power.

''Fine let's do this I need to go back to training.'' Naruto said. He had come to enjoy his training, once he had gotten used to the weights his grandfather made him wear.

He felt strong physically. Despite not training in Ninjutsu he enjoyed his training. He was building power and speed, also making his body tough so it could endure long fights without tiring too easily. One may have an arsenal of jutsu's but if you are slow and are fighting against a fast enemy your jutsu become useless because you would not be able to do hand seals as the enemy will get you before you even think of a jutsu you want to use.

Madara nodded and motioned for Naruto to lie down. He grinned as he put Naruto into sleep. He was building up a powerful body; he only wished he was still young to see the kind of power the boy would have at his disposal. The boy could have proved to be an interesting opponent that would push him to his limits, only Hashirama had been able to do it. There was no other shinobi that made him seriously other than Hashirama.

**2 years later**

A ten year old Naruto was watching over Konoha from the Hokage Monument. Both his eyes showed a fully matured Sharingan.

After his grandfather had finished working on his body, He had Zetsu take him out of the hideout. He was taken to a bandit camp and Zetsu disappeared leaving him in front of a camp of 25 overgrown men. They not pleased seeing Naruto in their camp and were not just going to let him go away. Stepping inside their camp meant he had seen things that they prefer that they not be seen by other people. If Naruto was to run off and tell people of what he had seen it would prove troubling for them. The village nearby was surely going to hire shinobi to get rid of them, shinobi were not people they liked to deal with.

Naruto knew that he was going to have to fight with the bandits. He had been itching for a battle after all. He needed to test how far he had gone with his training. And so he fought with his enemies. They were weak, not strong as shinobi but their numbers proved too much for Naruto. He was almost killed, but his experience of almost getting killed awakened his sharingan.

Zetsu came and finished off the remaining bandits. He took a guilt stricken Naruto back to the hideout. Naruto felt horrible for killing, to take someone's life had left him feeling like a monster. Especially after knowing that he had just killed just so he could awaken his Sharingan. He was happy that he had awakened his sharingan but the way it was awakened was not a way he liked.

It took a beat down by Madara's cane for Naruto to stop feeling guilty. The experience of killing and Madara's influence left Naruto with little emotions to display.

Over the past two years he had worked in ninjutsu and maturing his sharingan. He trained mostly alone since his grandfather was old and not as mobile as a sensei should be. He only gave Naruto instructions and advised whenever Naruto was having troubles with something. The thing he hated about his grandfather was that he was a perfectionist. Every little mistake that Naruto made was pointed out. He was never satisfied with good, only perfect made him smile.

Hashirama's cells were hard to control, his grandfather had told him be patient. The cells were just too hard to control since they had yet to completely bond with his body. Madara had suggested he keep training physically and give time for the cells to bond other than forcing the issue.

Naruto listened but worked on fire Jutsu. His grandfather was a master of the fire element. With his cells in his body, it also gave him higher control over the fire element. Soon he would be a master of the fire element, with enough training.

After he had awakened the sharingan he had decided against coming back to the village, so that he may focus on maturing his sharingan and learning ninjutsu. He let the blood clone continue to be in his place at the village.

His grandfather had told him to be careful that no one saw him with his sharingan activated. Madara had said that because Naruto had his sharingan activated, always. His secrets meant that he could not train within the village. Training within the village would be risking him getting caught doing things he shouldn't be doing.

He had returned today, Madara had told him to go back to the village for some time. Zetsu would be used if Madara wanted to see him. The old man's body was giving up. He had told Naruto to go back to Konoha while he dealt with the problem. Naruto just hoped that the problem would be dealt with, he did not know how he would react should his grandfather's body give up.

Naruto was busy sorting out the memories of the clone he had dispelled. The blood clone gave him all the memories it attained on its 2 and a half life. The memories were too many; Naruto had been sitting in a meditative position for the past 5 hours. A major headache was troubling him due to the overload of memories he received.

Nothing much had changed in Konoha. The Sandaime still visited him at his apartment once a month.

The villagers had been treating Sasuke like a king because he was the last faithful Uchiha. But the Uchiha seemed not to care how they treated him, he just avoided everyone.

Looking at the memories Naruto shook his head at what Sasuke had become because of his brothers actions. Naruto thought for a moment, Sasuke had always been the way he was at the moment, it was just that before the Massacre he was not cold and an emo brooding king. But he was distant and seemed to have something dark hidden within his heart.

Naruto wondered what the Uchiha would do should he know why his brother massacred their clan. The Uchiha massacre had left the boy unstable. He seemed to lose control over all his emotions when someone mentioned Itachi. Itachi had become a taboo in the presence of Sasuke.

The village hated Itachi. They did not know the sacrifice he made. Itachi was like him in some sense. Both were hated even though they were heroes. But it was different with Itachi, since nobody knew he was a hero. With him they refused accepting him as a hero even when he protects the village each day by housing the Kyubi.

Due to Madara's influence Naruto had also come to thank Itachi for the Uchiha clan massacre. They had betrayed his grandfather, had they not done that they would never have been wiped out by a single man, no a teen with a Mangekyou sharingan. Their arrogance was another that got them killed, they might have been powerful to think that they could take on a village had been a foolish thought on their part.

The Mangekyou sharingan was a powerful tool. Dangerous wielded by a demented person. Madara had told Naruto all of the Mangekyo's abilities. Thus Naruto respected anyone who had awakened the eyes.

Naruto sighed as he got up and deactivated his sharingan. He decided to walk back to his apartment. He needed to kill time it was still in the afternoon. He had nothing better to do for the rest of the day.

'It seems they still haven't changed.' Naruto thought walking in the streets of Konoha. The villagers still had their hateful glares, while some ignored his presence. His clone did not do walk around the village much often, it spent most of its time at the academy and in his apartment.

With the time he spent getting lectures from his grandfather, Naruto could care less if they stared at him or not. It longer hurt him, in fact it amused.

They were ignorant fools blinded by hatred. He would be a fool too if he cared for what ignorant fools say and do with their time. It was better to let the fools amuse themselves…. for now. Sooner or later he would be the one laughing openly at them. For now he could not tell them they were fools, if he did they would surely rally up everyone to try to burn and skin him alive for insulting them.

Naruto walked passed a lake, he stopped when he saw Sasuke sitting there alone. Sasuke noticed Naruto and stared at him with cold uncaring eyes before looking away from the blonde.

Naruto shrugged Sasuke's cold stare and continued walking at the direction of his apartment. Sasuke chose to be distant from other people, no one chose for him. He chose to take the path of revenge. Revenge was never a pretty thing. It destroys you from the inside out, until there is nothing left.

What would be left would be a body that used to be a person, a shadow and memories that would soon be forgotten.

Naruto walked inside of his apartment. He breathed in the air inside of his apartment. He had missed his cold and lonely home. It has not been home to him for the past two years. Naruto smiled at himself and went to his small bedroom.

He took off his jumpsuit and jumped into bed, it might have been too early for him to sleep but he had nothing to do. Konoha was not like his grandfather's hideout where he could do so many things without getting bored.

His mind seemed to agree with him, it did not take long for him to drift into unconsciousness bliss.

**A few days later**

The forest of death, today Naruto had been strolling around the training ground. He was bored and decided to take a walk within the forest. Only a select few used the training ground, it was a good place for one to be alone. He could not walk around the streets of Konoha because there was always a pair of Byakugan eyes watching him. It made him feel uncomfortable, to think that a girl, not just any girl, a Hyuga heiress was stalking him.

Ever since he returned he had noticed that most of the times the girl was following him around the village. The girl was weird indeed. Naruto came to a conclusion that his clone had been unable to sense her, because it was a copy of the untrained him. Now he sensed chakra better. The girl was just not good at hiding her position. He had been able to know she was following him rather easily.

He climbed on top of a tree and set on a branch. He still had a lot to do with his training. He was wasting time sitting around doing nothing. The academy had nothing to give him, but in order for him to be a ninja he had to attend and pass.

Zetsu's head formed beside him. It was only the white part that appeared. Zetsu had two personalities, Madara called them black Zetsu and white Zetsu. Zetsu was originally all white, but his grandfather had planted his nature and memories on him. But it resulted in creating black Zetsu, which was smart, serious and strong. Black Zetsu became Madara's will. It could do Mokuton Jutsu as Zetsu had been created from Hashirama's cells. White Zetsu was weak, often playful and never was serious. It hated being reminded that it was weak. The beings could separate from one another. They could function without the other half.

Naruto looked at white Zetsu. If he came here alone it must mean black Zetsu was somewhere else.

Zetsu smiled at Naruto, ''You look bored!'' his voice was not deep as black Zetsu's.

Naruto nodded, ''There is nothing to do here other than going to the damn academy.'' He paused for a moment, ''What brings you here?''

''Your grandfather wants to see.''

''Do you know why?'' Naruto asked. He hoped that the old man was okay.

''If I told you, then you wouldn't have to go back to the hideout and see your grandfather''

''I guess you're right.'' Naruto said. He made a wood clone to replace him while he went away. A wood clone was strong, but did not transfer back its memories to the original. Naruto did not want another headache. A wood clone had been something his grandfather had taught him, it was the only Mokuton Jutsu he could do.

''You stay here for now, return to the apartment later on, don't miss a day of the Academy, and never forget to keep your cover persona.'' Naruto said disappearing in a swirl of leafs. The only way he could go to the Hideout without his grandfather was use the teleportation seal in his apartment, which could only be activated by his blood and chakra.

Zetsu sank back to the tree branch

**Unknown Location**

Naruto looked at his grandfather's face. He looked a lot more serious than he had ever seen him before. But he was happy that seemed fine, it seemed that he had solved his problems. He sighed in relief.

''Naruto, I'm going tell you some important things, and I need you to listen carefully!'' Naruto nodded, ''Do you remember the room, I told you had tablets that contained valuable information on them that only an Uchiha and those with the Rinnegan could read?'' Naruto nodded, ''The information that is in there is the history of the Rikudou Sennin, Chakra and the Bijuu's. After we are done here I want you to spend as much time you like making sure that the information in those tablets is in your head.''

Naruto could only nod, his grandfather never asked him to do something unless it was important.

''In my years of being a shinobi I came to hate the shinobi system. I devised a plan that would allow me to rule the world, to be God. But by the time I had all the necessary tools to do that plan I was already old, and could no longer carry out that plan.

''During the third Ninja world war, I found a young Uchiha boy, his name was Uchiha Obito. He was nearly dead when I found him. His right side of the body was crushed. I took the boy and brought him back to the hideout, and fixed up his body. I did that using Hashirama's cells. When he had recovered he chose to return back to Konoha. I allowed him to go, but he returned shortly afterwards to stay with me. I told him of my plan. He liked the plan and agreed to take part in it.

I used a very powerful Genjutsu on him to tell him the knowledge I had, that would help him with the plan. I knew that I was going to die soon and I needed to give him what he needed to be successful in the plan. I trained him as best as I could so that he could be strong and told him to use my name once I had died. But he betrayed me to rule the world himself, and he is out there gathering the strongest shinobi to see that the plan succeeds. He uses my name to recruit the strongest shinobi. He uses the name Uchiha Madara to those he wants to recruit and Tobi while doing other things.''

Naruto absorbed all the information his grandfather gave him. He was a little mad that someone would betray his grandfather. ''What was this plan grandfather, how did you plan to rule the world?''

Madara smiled slightly, ''I engraved the whole plan in the tablets you will read more about it in detail when you read the tablets, for now I will tell you what the plan needed to be a success.'' He paused for a moment catching his breath, ''For the plan to succeed I had to collect all the Bijuu's and seal them into the Gedo Mazo. The Gedo Mazo is a vessel. It can only be controlled by someone who has the Rinnegan. Obito created an organization called Akatsuki, I know their purpose is to collect all Bijuu's once they know all their locations and strengths, the group is compromised of S-rank criminals only, there are ten of them.''

''Grandfather you said someone with the Rinnegan could control the vessel in which the Bijuu's are sealed into. Does this mean that Obito awakened the Rinnegan?''

Madara shook his head, ''No Obito can't awaken the Rinnegan despite having both Uchiha and Senju powers. His body is not perfect like yours. I did tell you that I had awakened the Rinnegan and transplanted it to someone else, correct?'' Naruto nodded, ''That was before I had taken in Obito. The name of the child I transplanted my Rinnegan is Nagato Uzumaki, Obito Using my name and His knowledge of the Rinnegan managed to get Nagato to work with him. Nagato controls the vessel, and is the figurehead leader of the Akatsuki while Obito operates behind the scenes. When he is not operating behind the scene he uses the name Tobi, Keeping the name of Madara a secret to those in the group who aren't aware of it.''

Naruto now understood that since he was a jinchuriku it meant he was in danger of being captured too. His grandfather had thought of a plan to rule the world by capturing the bijuu's, he figured the bijuu's were needed for their power. From what his grandfather had told him the bijuu's had large amounts of chakra that no man could have. The Kyubi was said to have almost an infinite chakra supply, being the strongest of the bijuu's.

He did not know if his grandfather still wanted to rule the world or if he wanted him to rule the world once he becomes powerful enough to do so. He had no intentions of ruling the world. He did not know what he would say if his grandfather was to ask him to rule the world.

''Grandfather, Isn't Tobi afraid that you will tell the world that he is not Madara! He did leave you alive.''

''No he has no such fears. He knows that I can't do anything. Look at me I'm old. I can't stop him if I wanted to. He would have been fearful if he knew about you, but he doesn't, for now that is.'' Naruto did not need to know that the fool left him alive just so he could watch him take over the world using his name.

Naruto nodded, ''I guess Zetsu has everything to do with why you know everything he is planning!''

''Yes, Zetsu is quite useful when it comes to gathering information.''

''What is it that you want me to do grandfather? Do you still plan on ruling the world?''

Madara shook his head, ''I no longer have such plans, I don't care what happens to the world, I'm going to die soon. But what I plan for you is to take back everything that belongs to me.'' Naruto waited for his fate, ''With the secrets of your body you can become powerful, even powerful than I was at my prime. You will restore the Uchiha and take Konoha back from the fools that rule it. If they don't make you Hokage you can do it by force, just make sure that you rule Konoha.''

Naruto smiled slightly. At least his fate was not that bad as he had thought it would be. ''What about Tobi and the Rinnegan?''

''Kill the fool and you can do whatever you want with the Rinnegan.''

Naruto nodded, "Is Tobi is he the one who ripped the kyubi out of mother the day I was born?'' Madara nodded, ''Well I guess I have more reasons to want him dead!''

Madara smiled things were going according to plan. He was still surprised that Naruto did not argue with him over becoming the leader of Konoha, a village he hates. Still what worried him was what would happen when time came for him to die. When he said he no longer cared for what happened to the world because he was going to die, he saw a flicker of emotion in Naruto's eyes. It seemed that Naruto had still not come to accept that he was going to die in a couple of years.

''Grandfather, this means I have to train harder than I have been!''

Madara nodded, ''Yes it is why I had given you some time off because in a month you will no longer be going back to Konoha until your clone graduates at the academy.''

''Are you saying that I'm going to stop hiding after I graduate?''

''No, when you graduate, it will be risky to let a clone be your place since you will be doing missions. You will still keep your secrets. I told you before that you will only reveal some of them after I die.'' he saw it again when he said 'die', but said nothing.

Naruto nodded, who was he to deny his grandfather's wishes?

''Naruto I want you to return to Konoha, Zetsu will come and fetch you in a month to continue your training.''

''Hai, Jiji''

Madara smiled as Naruto went away to his room so he could teleport back to Konoha.

Zetsu appeared from behind him, ''That went well!'' black Zetsu said in his deep voice.

''Yes he took everything in far better than I had expected. At least now he can train harder knowing what his goals are.''

''You really are serious about this, aren't you?''

''What I do now, I do for him. Once he awakens the Rinnegan he will become God. Other villagers will fight him in fear of his power. But they will not defeat him, once that happens it will be easy for him to influence the elemental nations.'' Madara replied not directly answering Zetsu's question, but Zetsu understood. Madara no longer wanted to rule the world, he wanted his grandchild to live a better life and change the shinobi world with the power of God he would come to gain once he awakens the Rinnegan. A change in the shinobi world was what Madara wanted, that was why he wanted to rule it.

Konoha

Naruto set down at his kitchen. He had a lot on his mind. He now knew what he lived for, his dream that his grandfather had set for him. He would make his grandfather proud by achieving his goals. He had been lost living without a sound goal. He had only been living, training just so he could protect himself, so that he can survive. But now he had a goal, an ambition that he would make a reality and there was no one who would step in his way.

Tobi's plans still troubled him, but his grandfather's words that he could be stronger than him soothed his worries. But still he was worried, it did not make him feel good knowing that there was a group that was only focused on hunting people like down. He was sure that no one in the village knew of the Akatsuki, his grandfather knew things that no one knew of. At the moment he just had to focus on getting strong so he could defend himself and defeat his enemies.

His grandfather had assured him that Tobi did not know about his relations with him. That was a positive he could surprise the Uchiha when he does find out about his relations with Madara.

With his dreams he now had to accept that he was an Uchiha. The Uchiha clan was his clan; he was part of the clan. It was no longer his grandfather's, Itachi, or Sasuke's clan only, but it was also his clan. He was one of the few remaining Uchiha's in the world. Thinking of it, naruto smiled it meant that he was going to have to use Uchiha as his name. He would drop Uzumaki and use Uchiha only. He did not have to use that cursed Namikaze's name, which was a good thing for him.

'Uchiha Naruto' he thought with a smile. The villagers were going to surely 'die' when they come to find out that he was an Uchiha. He could almost see the looks on their faces when they hear of it. Even when he hated his father, he would let the village know that Namikaze was his father just to make them feel worse about themselves. He could almost see them begging for forgiveness, not that he would care about their apologies. He would just let them know of his heritage just to see that look on their faces, it would be priceless. Even his grandfather would laugh.

Uchiha and Namikaze were already taken off. What was left was Uzumaki. It was the only thing that he had left of his mother. She was never seen as a hero, no was her name written anywhere, she had been made none-existent. He would correct that…In time.

Naruto was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door. He figured it was the Sandaime, he had been expecting the old man for his monthly visits. He went to open the door and led the old man back to the kitchen.

The sandaime smiled softly while he took a sit, "It's good to you again my boy"

Naruto smiled and nodded, "It's good to see you too, Jiji!"

"I'm glad you are still lively as always, I brought you your allowance" he said giving naruto an envelope, Naruto took it with a wide grin.

"How are things at the academy? Are your sensei's still sabotaging your academics?'

Naruto shook his head, "Iruka-sensei no longer glares at me, and sometimes he even smiles at me." Naruto replied. He was surprised when the Chunin stopped glaring at him and started being nice to him. He was no longer kicked out of the academy. Iruka would even go as far as to have him woken up should he be sleeping inside the class, just so that he could listen to the lecture. Although he had been able to see traces of hatred at the Chunin's eyes, he knew that the chunin was trying to get over his hatred not hide it.

The Sandaime smiled brightly upon hearing naruto's answer, "Good, I expect you to get room result now that your sensei is being fair with you."

Naruto grinned, he had expected the Sandaime to say something like that, "I will try my best Jiji!"

Sarutobi smiled getting up, "I will hear from Iruka about your progress. I will be going now I have some paperwork to finish."

Naruto nodded, "Goodbye Jiji"

The Sandaime walked away leaving Naruto alone. The sandaime spoke Iruka's sensei like he was familiar with it. He guessed the Sandaime was responsible for the chunin teacher's change of heart. The old man despite his lies never stopped trying to make his life better.

**Unknown Location **

Naruto walked inside his grandfather's hideout with his sharingan activated. A month had passed and he had returned to continue with his training. His grandfather was waiting for him beside Zetsu.

Naruto stopped in front of them. "Let's get going." Madara said walking away.

Naruto followed behind with Zetsu

**I ended up adding about 700 words to the chapter while revising it. I don't think I corrected all the mistakes though.**

**About next chapter, while I was revising this chapter I changed plans for the next chapter. The next chapter will be the graduation. I want to kill Madara. I don't want Naruto acting like an Idiot. playing idiot will only stand In the way of Naruto getting strong. He has strong enemies who will not wait for him to get strong. **

**See you in the next chapter. Ja ne! **


	3. Chapter 3

**To those against the idea of Naruto dropping Uzumaki, I will think it as the story goes on because he will not be using Uchiha anytime soon. And I will not make it a Naru/Hina pairing so there is no need to worry. **

**Chapter**** 3 the revealed secret**

Three years later

A forehead protector, it symbolizes that one is a shinobi of a village. Each shinobi village has its own Hitae-ate. Once one wears it, it shows where ones loyalties lie. Naruto held the forehead protector with his right hand. He had been given it after passing the academy exam. His passing was a surprise to everyone in his class, even the sensei's seemed surprised that he had passed. No one had thought that he was going to pass the exams. He was the dead-last after all. So it was expected for the dead-last to be the one that fails the exam that everyone passes. Naruto did enough to pass the exam. He did not have to fail since everyone his age was going to pass. He had already spent too much time in the academy, it was time to get out of the academy and become a shinobi.

It had been just a day now since 'he' got the forehead protector. The Sandaime had been pleased upon knowing that Naruto had succeeded in becoming a genin. Naruto saw it in the old man's eyes, the proud smile he had on his face. Anyone who had looked at the old man that day would have seen that he was truly happy. Naruto had never seen the old man give him a proud smile like that before.

Naruto had returned today from his training. His grandfather had told him to come back to the village and replace with the clone. It was no longer needed. They had planned to dispel it after the graduation. He had also told Naruto to return after he had done so.

In 6 days they would be meeting their sensei's. They were already assigned to their teams. Naruto was placed in team 7 along with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. They had said that Naruto was placed on the team to balance the scales. Sasuke and sakura were top students and Naruto was the dead-last, he made a perfect member of the team. They were not yet informed of their sensei's name. They would meet them in seven days at the academy.

Naruto placed the forehead protector on his forehead. He looked at himself and smiled at himself. It felt good to wear the forehead protector. Wearing it meant that he would have more things to do now. No longer would he be worried about training only, he would also have to place missions and team meetings into his daily activities.

Right now he needed to meet with his grandfather. Madara had made it clear that he came back to the hideout after dispelling the clone and taking the forehead protector. He did not want to make his grandfather wait any longer. He entered his bathroom and placed his hand on the floor next to his mirror. A seal appeared on the floor, Naruto bit his thump letting blood leak. He wiped the blood on the seal and then disappeared.

Unknown location

Madara held his Gunbai with both his hands. He looked at it remembering the good days when he was still at his prime. Remembering those days made him wish he was young again. He wanted to give the Gunbai to Naruto as a gift for becoming a shinobi. It would also prove useful in future battles. He had used it many times when he fought, thus he knew its value. He also wanted Naruto be like him, wielding a Gunbai made Naruto like him. He had succeeded in making Naruto think a lot like him though not completely.

Naruto looked at the war fan with an impassive gaze. His eyes were studying the war fan his grandfather held. It was wide with a tomoe on it and had a long handle with bandages wrapped around the base, and a chain attached to it. It had a purple tint with a black border.

''Take this it is my gift to you.'' Madara said

Naruto brought out both his bands accepting the Gunbai. It was a little large for him. He could not use it at his current height. ''Thank you Jiji!''

Madara smiled slightly, ''Naruto, I want you to know that I am proud of you. If you continue to train as hard as you have been you will one day surpass me even Hashirama.''

Naruto did not react at first. It was unusual for his grandfather to say things like that. He brushed off his worries; his grandfather did a lot of unusual things.

Madara continued speaking, ''Never forget what I taught you, and keep my words your heart!''

Now Naruto was beginning to worry, again. It seemed like his grandfather was saying goodbye to him. He could not accept something like that. He still needed his grandfather alive. ''What's wrong grandfather?''

''There is nothing wrong, all is well.'' He lied

Naruto did not see it, even with his sharingan active. ''Do I still have to act weak now that I have become a ninja?'' he asked wishing his grandfather would allow him to stop acting weak and stupid.

Madara smiled at Naruto and replied, ''Patience child!''

Naruto sighed it seems that he was not going to get his wish. ''Okay...I should return to Konoha since I did not leave a clone behind and I have to meet up with my team in a few days.'' Naruto said

Madara nodded, ''You can go I have no other reasons to keep you here.'' He said

Naruto smiled slightly before going to his room. He did not need to take the Gunbai with him to Konoha. He was not going to be using it for now after all. He needed to learn how to use it first before he could carry it around. Also, taking the Gunbai back to Konoha would get him asked questions that he did not wish to answer.

Later that night at Naruto's apartment

A figure in a black attire sneaked into Naruto's room. He looked at Naruto, who was sleeping peacefully. The blond was unaware of the presence inside his room. He slowly made his way towards Naruto; he did not want to be heard, if he made noise the blond would hear him and wake up. He reached Naruto's bed and stared at the sleeping blond for a moment.

He moved both his hands quickly. His left grabbed Naruto's neck squeezing it, the other he firmly placed on Naruto's face blocking his eyes so that he may not be able to see. With his neck being squeezed he would not be able to scream.

Naruto woke from his sleep due to the difficulty in breathing. His neck was pressed tightly and his eyes could not open because there was a hand that was making it impossible for him to open them. He kicked a few times and moved both his hands to try and stop the person from killing him. His kicking and his struggle were proven pointless as the person did not let go off him. Even if he were to scream no one would come and save him. People would probably just come and watch him suffocate. They would certainly enjoy the show. He was not going to die like this. It had been long since he had allowed the villagers to do what they pleased with him. He was no longer going to allow it. Especially since the person had just broke into his apartment to try to kill him. His grandfather had told him to never allow foolish people to do as they pleased with him. He would certainly not allow anyone to take his life not inside of his own apartment. He was too young to die and he still had dreams that needed to be achieved. He could not die and leave his grandfather alone.

Naruto reached under his pillow while struggling to get loose from the tight grip on his neck. His eyes could not see. He took a kunai under his pillow and held it firmly. Because he could not see with his eyes, he relied on his other senses to try and stab the person on his shoulder so that the person could loosen up the grip on his neck. He moved the Kunai quickly and felt it connect with something. The contact gave him the assurance that he had stabbed his attacker.

The hands pressing him down the bed no longer had the power they had. He was able to get loose from the grip. He opened up his eyes and looked at his attacker. Naruto sat frozen on his bed looking at his attacker. His attacker was now falling down because of the wound on his neck. The blood leaked out even though the Kunai that pierced him was still in his neck. Naruto was still frozen when his attacker hit the floor with a thud.

''G-grandfather!'' he managed to stutter out at his grandfather.

Naruto felt his word crumbled down, his heart breaking into pieces. Tears started to wet his cheeks as he cried in regret. He had committed the greatest sin he could have ever do. He had killed his own grandfather. The man who took care of him when nobody wanted to do it, the man who taught him everything he knows about a shinobi. The man he cared for more than anyone he knew, the only person who was closest to him.

He had killed that man

He crawled trembling towards his grandfather. The old man had a smile on his face. Madara looked at Naruto with a small smile before he breathed his last breathe.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw his grandfather's eyes close, ''No-No-no grandfather don't die I did not mean to kill you. I did not know it was you. Come back grandfather!'' he cried out holding his grandfather's arms.

His grandfather did not respond. Naruto felt the guilt and regret overwhelming him. He had killed his only family in the world. Tears showered down like water flowing off a broken water tap. His hands shook with guilt and regret, while his heart was tore apart. He felt as though he was standing between earth and a large meteor, each pressing him against the other.

His sharingan activated unconsciously and morphed into a new form, the new form had a small black ring in the middle of the eye, 6 black blades connected from the ring, and they stretched to the border of the eye. Naruto felt his head pounding as if it was smashed against a hammer. The pain along with the regret and guilt was too much for him, it caused him to fall into unconsciousness.

The moment Naruto fell down Zetsu appeared within the room. He separated into two, white Zetsu and black Zetsu.

''You clean up the mess, I will take them to the hideout!'' black Zetsu said to white Zetsu in his deep voice.

White Zetsu nodded. Black Zetsu took Naruto and placed him on his left shoulder, he did the same with Madara's corpse placing it on his right shoulder. He left white Zetsu cleaning up Madara's blood on the floor.

Unknown Location, Hideout

Black Zetsu watched as Naruto's body began to stir. Naruto had slept all night peacefully. Zetsu had thought he might have nightmares, but nothing had happened all night. Naruto slept like a baby.

Naruto rose up from the bed and looked around his surroundings. He saw that he was in his room within the hideout. He did not remember coming to the hideout. He saw Zetsu and the events of last night began to play in his head. He looked down in guilt, tears started to leak out again, his hands clenched tightly. ''I-i'm sorry I-i killed h-him, I did not see it was him!'' he said to Zetsu. It did not matter that Madara was the one to have tried to kill him first. What mattered was that he had killed his own grandfather.

Zetsu did not like the situation he was currently in. Seeing Naruto cry was unpleasant. ''It was not your fault. Madara wanted to die by your hands!'' Zetsu said confusing Naruto.

''W-why would he want me to kill him?''

''He was going to die anytime soon. He decided it was best if he died by your hands. Your experience of killing him would awaken your Mangekyou Sharingan. He said it was the greatest power he could leave you with.'' Zetsu replied

Naruto eyes widened. He had killed his grandfather his grandfather just to awaken his Mangekyou sharingan. It was the same when he awakened the sharingan. ''Couldn't he have found another way for me to awaken the Mangekyou?''

Zetsu shook his head, ''No, he was going to die anytime soon. It was either he died on his own and leave you as you are or die by your hands and leave you with a Mangekyou sharingan.''

The Sharingan was a cursed doujutsu. The things one had to do to evolve it were horrible. 'Is this the price of power?' Naruto asked himself. He continued to cry even if his grandfather wanted him to kill him and did not feel betrayed by him he still could not forgive himself for killing him.

''Naruto, It is either you accept that Madara wanted to die or you continue to drown yourself in guilt. I won't watch over you if you are like this,'' He shook his head, ''Your grandfather would be disappointed seeing you like this. I should know that, I am his will after all.'' he said and disappeared from Naruto's view.

Naruto felt conflicted, he knew his grandfather would not be pleased seeing him crying. Madara hated any weakness, at the moment he was in a moment of weakness. If an enemy was to come at him he would surely be killed because he could not fight in his condition.

Zetsu was right, but he could not help but feel guilty for ending his grandfather's life.

The following day

Naruto had just finished burying his grandfather. He was not crying, no Naruto had told himself he would never cry again. He had spent the whole of yesterday locked up in his room thinking. He did not eat anything the whole day, he only ate today morning. He had told himself that if killing his grandfather was the price of power then he would accept it, but it not mean he liked it. It was just that there was nothing he could do about it and was done, he could not change it. His grandfather would not have come back if he had continued crying.

He had told himself when he was just six that crying did not solve anything

He was walking calmly inside the hideout with an impassive look and his Mangekyou activated. He suddenly stopped walking. ''I will be returning back to Konoha, the Sandaime will certainly be looking for me as he would not have been able to see me through his crystal ball,'' he paused for a moment, ''In three days I should be meeting my teammates. Some of my secrets will be revealed.'' he said to no one in particular.

Zetsu stepped from the shadows, ''Which secrets are you going to reveal?''

''That I'm not an idiot. I will release the Genjutsu Madara placed around me and some of my power. But my Kekkei Genkai's and full power will remain hidden for now.'' he said walking away.

Zetsu nodded and disappeared. He was a little surprised that Naruto called his grandfather by his name. He had always called him grandfather never Madara. He guessed it was because Madara was dead now, and the manner in which he died.

Naruto was not going to reveal his Doujutsu and his Mokuton bloodline. It was still going to be fun for Zetsu watching the looks on Konoha's face when it realizes that Naruto was not an idiot it thought he was.

A few days later, Academy

The whole class was quite. No one was saying anything they all just looked at single person. Some looked at him with wide eyes, some in disbelief, one with indifference. They were speaking within their thoughts because they were seeing was something that they thought they could never see, and something that they thought could never happen.

The subject of their thoughts was Uzumaki Naruto

Naruto was not in his kill-me orange jumpsuit. He was different, he looked different. No more was the foxy grin that had always been ever present on his features. Naruto was wearing a black long sleeved shirt with a red Uzumaki swirl in his front and back. The one on the back was small, but the one in the front was large, it covered his chest. He also wore black shinobi pants, black shinobi boots and black gloves each with an Uzumaki swirl at the back of his hand. His blond hair was long, they reached his shoulders, and two large bangs covered a bit of his face. The bang on his right made his eye barely visible. Naruto had not cut his hair ever since he was seven. He let his hair grow for 6 long years. He wanted them to be like Madara's when he grew older. Naruto's whisker marks were still there on his cheeks, but seemed to be disappearing. His face looked mature and his eyes were devoid of any emotion.

A minute passed and everyone got over their shock.

''Is that Naruto?'' A random girl asked still in disbelief.

''Yes that's him, and he looks kind of hot!''

A Sasuke Uchiha fan girl did not like hearing that. ''He might have changed his clothes, but he is still a dead-last!''

''Who cares if he is the dead-last! He graduated and what matters most is that he is hot!''

''Maybe, but he is not as hot as Sasuke-kun.''

''That might be true but it does not change the fact that he is hot and you just admitted it.''

The Uchiha fan girl huffed and looked away.

Today they would not be meeting with Iruka. He had already given his final speech the day he announced the teams. They were told to come here and their Jonin-sensei's would come and fetch them.

A few moments later the doors opened. A group of jonins walked inside class. When they all saw him they eyed him suspiciously and curiously. The Naruto they all knew was not like that. They did not dwell on it though; they went on to collect their students.

Only two Jonin's interested Naruto because they had Genins he was familiar with as their students.

Asuma Sarutobi, the son of the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. His team was team 9 it consisted of Ino Yamanaka, Akimichi Choji, and Nara Shikamaru. The three were friends so Naruto was not surprised that they were grouped together. He knew that Shikamaru would be the brains of the team, Choji the muscle of the team. He could not figure out what use Ino would be for the team since the girl showed no ninja skills...well her clan techniques could be quiet useful if she did learn them. As far as he knew the girl did not train at all.

Yuhi Kurenai, Konoha's Genjutsu mistress. She was the jonin-sensei of team 8. The team was composed of Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. 'Trackers' Naruto thought looking at the team. Inuzuka were tracking specialist in Konoha. Their noses were 'blessed' in tracking a person's scent. Hinata with her Byakugan could be useful in the fronts since the Byakugan could see through anything. Shino could also operate like Kiba with his Kinkai.

The class cleared and Team 7 was left alone in the class. They waited for more than two hours for their sensei to arrive. Naruto did not like the time it was taking for the Jonin of team 7 to arrive. He was displeased. He did not like people who wasted his time. Team 7's jonin was wasting his time by being late. Two hours was a bit too much for Naruto to tolerate. Over the time Sasuke had been stealing glances at Naruto who had been quiet ever since he entered the class. Sasuke was curious about the changes in Naruto, but his pride stood in the way of asking about it or displaying his curiosity. Sakura was being Sakura, though she never did try to say anything to Naruto. It was because of the emotionless look on Naruto's face. It was different from Sasuke's, with Naruto's she was not used to it and it gave her a bad vibe every time she looked at Naruto. Her focus was on trying to impress Sasuke. As always Sasuke ignored her attempts.

A few minutes and a man with spiky silver hair, a mask that covered most of his face, the only part not covered was around his right eye. He held a small orange book on his hand, and had a bored expression on his face. His eyes looked lazily at the Genins before going back to his book.

'Copy ninja, Hatake Kakashi, I should have known he would be selected to be Team 7's sensei' Naruto thought looking at the famed sharingan no Kakashi. 'At least I did not get a weak sensei' he thought.

Kakashi narrowed his eye at Naruto. The blond was a different person from the one he had seen in the past months and different from the reports he got. He looked at had went gone through a transformation.

''You must be Team 7,'' Kakashi said lazily, ''Meet me at the roof in five minutes.'' he said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto too disappeared into thin air. Sasuke stared at where Naruto had been sitting before clenching his fists. He walked away with Sakura following him behind with a confused look on her face. She was confused because Sasuke seemed angry at something. She could only guess it was because Naruto had just disappeared into thin air. But she questioned herself as she could not understand how it would make Sasuke angry.

Roof

Kakashi looked at Naruto curiously. This was certainly not the Naruto he was expecting to see. What surprised him the most was that Naruto appeared at the roof just after he did. He could not have done it with pure speed he had used a shunshine. It surprised him because Naruto was not supposed to be able to do that kind of jutsu, the jutsu was a chunin level jutsu. From what he had heard Naruto had struggled to even do the **Bunshin No jutsu.** He shrugged off his thoughts when he saw the rest of his team appear. He looked at them lazily. Sakura seemed out of breath, while Sasuke...well was Sasuke.

Looking at Sakura, Kakashi could tell that the girl lacked physical training meaning she was physically weak. By the looks of things it seemed that the girl did not train at all if she lost her breath by climbing a few stairs.

Sasuke looked at Naruto for a moment before going to take a sit beside the blond. Naruto did not spare Sasuke a glance he just sat there as if Sasuke was not there, something which seemed to trouble him greatly. He hated being ignored especially by a dobe.

Kakashi never took his eyes off his book as he spoke, ''Alright now that everyone is here I want you to introduce yourself by telling us your name, likes and dislikes.'' he said in a bored tone.

Sakura did not seem to get it, ''Sensei, why don't you go first to give us an example on how we should introduce ourselves.''

Kakashi took his eye of his book and stared at the girl for a moment. She was supposed to be smart, he could not understand why she would say something like that. He did say how they were supposed to introduce themselves. He sighed, ''I am Hatake Kakashi. I have no intentions of telling me my likes and dislikes. As for my dream...I have a few hobbies.'' he introduced himself, his eye off Sakura and back on his book again.

'All he gave us was his name', two of the genins thought with a sweat drop. Naruto gave no reaction to it he just stared impassively into the blue sky.

''You are next!'' Kakashi said looking at Sakura.

Sakura nodded, ''Hi, I'm Haruno Sakura, my likes are,'' she looked at Sasuke with a blush, ''My dreams are,'' she looks at Sasuke again with a blush and a soft giggle. Sasuke ignored her; he just went on with his brooding. ''My dislikes are Ino-pig and,'' she paused for a moment looking at Naruto. She sighed in relief when she saw that he was not looking at her. His impassive face kind of scared her, but since he was not looking she could say whatever she wants, ''Naruto-baka!'' she said loudly.

Naruto ignored her; he could care less if the girl hated him or liked him. It did not matter either way, she was weak and useless.

Kakashi looked at her with a raised brow, 'Fan girl' he thought with a sweat drop. Things were going to be rough for him with Team 7. He hated dealing with fan girls, they annoyed him. Especially since they did not take their ninja careers but rather spent their time trying to look good.

He looked at Sasuke, ''You are next!''

''My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, no it is a reality, I am going to restore my clan and kill a certain man.'' Sasuke introduced himself darkly.

'Sasuke is so cool' Sakura thought with a dreamy look on her face. Naruto glanced at Sasuke for a moment before looking away. The Uchiha was stuck in his path for revenge. He was surely going into a darker path.

'I should have expected that much' Kakashi thought looking at Sasuke. He had a lot of work to do with the team, Sakura's fan girl attitude and Sasuke's dark path. He had to do what he could to ensure that Sasuke stayed out of the dark path he was currently in and develop bonds with his teammates. He looked at Naruto giving him a nod to introduce himself.

''Uzumaki Naruto!''

''...''

No one was expecting that kind of introduction. Even Sasuke was not expecting it. Yes Naruto seemed quiet and calm, but he did not expect him to introduce himself like that. Sakura was kind of fuming, thinking that Naruto was trying to be cool. She did not like anyone trying to be better than Sasuke.

Even the Sandaime almost fell off his chair within his office as he was watching the meeting with his crystal ball.

Kakashi looked at Naruto. There was something wrong with the kind of picture he was seeing. First the change in appearance after graduation and Naruto's body seemed strong physically, he looked like he trained hard as his 'eternal rival' Maito Guy. And then the change in attitude, one could not change the way Naruto did in a few days. Unless he was always like this but hiding it behind that mask of happiness. But the hair, last time he saw Naruto his hair was short, that is if unless he was hiding it too. 'Genjutsu' he thought with his eye slightly wide. He had to be a genjutsu master to be able to cast a genjutsu that could fool the whole village, even the Sandaime.

Things were certainly going to be hard for him. 'Fan girl, Avenger and the mystery genin' in a single team was going to consume much of his team. 'Why does the Sandaime hate me?' he thought to himself.

He sighed and looked at the academy graduates, ''Now that we are done with the introductions, tomorrow we are going to be doing a survival test. There are too many graduates this year, thus we will do the tests to determine those are ready to be genins. Out of the 27 academy graduates only 9 will become genin and the rest will be sent back to the Academy.'' he paused and looked at their reactions.

''But sensei we have already passed the academy test, and graduated, which made us Genins!'' Sakura said.

Kakashi shook his head, ''You passed the academy exams, to be a genin you have to pass a genin test.'' he paused, ''Your chances of failing are 66%. We will meet at 6 in the morning, training ground 7. I suggest that you don't eat breakfast if you do you will puke.'' he said, ''Ja ne!'' he said before leaving in a swirl of leafs, but not before glancing at Naruto.

Naruto got up to leave but was stopped by Sasuke, ''Dobe what is with the change?'' he asked...no he demanded.

''Yeh, why are you trying to look cool?'' Sakura added loudly.

Naruto's face remained impassive, ''I did not change, I was always like this you were just too blind to see It.'' he said as he disappeared into thin air.

Sasuke felt offended by Naruto's reply but he could not do anything since the blond was already gone. At least he was not annoying as he was in the academy that was a good thing. But inside of him was begging to be wary of the blond. There was this feeling he was getting off the blond that was not anything good. He started to retreat, Sakura spoke.

''Sasuke-kun, do you want to get something to eat?'' he asked happily with a blush.

''No!'' Sasuke replied coldly.

Hokage's office

The Sandaime was looking at Kakashi. What he had seen with his crystal had been a shock to him. Never had he suspected that Naruto was hiding under that happy mask he always had. But what troubled him were the physical changes in Naruto's body. The only word that came to his mind when he saw the blond was ''genjutsu''. That word alone troubled him greatly. If Naruto was able to hide in a genjutsu while he was around him meant that he had to be a master of the art. He was not just a kage; he could detect even S-rank Genjutsu's. But he could not detect that Naruto had a genjutsu placed around him that he or anyone in the village could not detect.

It troubled him greatly

''I'm guessing you saw everything.'' Kakashi said

The Sandaime nodded, ''Yes, and it troubles me.''

Kakashi nodded, ''I never thought I'd see him like that. With the way he currently looks at the moment he looks exactly like his father. You have to know that not everyone in the village is ignorant, they will start to suspect that he might be related to the Yondaime.''

''Yes, but let us just be grateful that the majority of the village would never think something like that because they are consumed by hatred.'' the Sandaime said

''You did tell me that I was not supposed to fail the team tomorrow, this means that he will go out of the village. Once Iwa sees him they will think he is the Yondaime's son. Anyone who thinks logically will be able to tell.''

The Sandaime nodded, ''For now we won't do anything. But bring Naruto to me after the test after you see his skill level.''

''Hai Hokage-Sama!'' Kakashi said before disappearing from the office.

The Hokage leaned back to his chair. He was definitely getting too old to be dealing with this kind of issues. His most fear was what Naruto might know. He would have a lot to deal with if Naruto did know things he was supposed to be the one to tell him. He just hoped that Naruto was not hiding more things that would be a threat to the village.

Training ground 7

Naruto was relaxing on a tree branch. He had arrived at the training ground before anyone did. He did not want to listen to Sakura's voice, thus he chose to relax on the tree. His teammates could no sense him, they were no good at sensing chakra and he was good at hiding his chakra signature. Someone like Kakashi would be able to detect him.

His teammates had arrived just after he had. Sakura took the time she was alone with Sasuke as an opportunity to impress him. Thus she was fawning over him. Sasuke was blissfully ignoring her.

Zetsu's head appeared from the tree. Naruto looked at him, ''Do you have something to tell me?''

''No!'' Zetsu replied.

''So you were bored then. You no longer have Madara to converse with.'' Zetsu just nodded, ''How goes the information gathering?''

''It has been rather difficult lately. I have not been able to find anything useful.'' he said, ''I'm curious which of your skills are you going to show today?''

''Taijutsu, I have trained in Taijutsu ever since I was seven. It is my best option I can fight without looking weak with just Taijutsu. I will not be using any Ninjutsu...for now that is.'' Naruto responded. Taijutsu was a good option for him since he would have to answer fewer questions. If he did ninjutsu they would ask him where he learned the Jutsu's and who taught them to him. With Taijutsu he could simply say that he trained on his own. No one would question him further.

''It looks like your sensei has not yet arrived.'' Zetsu said, ''I will be taking a look around the village.'' he said disappearing.

It had been 45 minutes after 6 and Kakashi had yet to appear. Naruto was getting impatient. Kakashi was just too laid back to arrive on time at a meeting he set up. He had to wait yesterday and now he was waiting. He hated that Kakashi did not respect other peoples time.

At 8 Naruto's patience finally ran out. He jumped out of the tree. His teammates noticed him.

''You are late Naruto! Kakashi-Sensei said we could come here at 6!'' Sakura yelled out.

Naruto had no words for her. She was not going to believe anything he told her anyway. It was best for him to just ignore her. He stared walking away from the training.

Sasuke finally spoke, ''Where are you going dobe?''

''Home'' Naruto responded without looking back at Sasuke.

''But we have a test to take!'' Sakura said.

''I am aware of that, but I do not have the patience to deal with our sensei's tardiness. When he does get here tell him I will be my apartment. If he is really serious about the test he will come and fetch me.'' Naruto said and disappeared.

An hour later

''Yo!'' Kakashi greeted with an eye smile as he appeared in a puff of smoke.

''You are late!'' Sakura screeched making Kakashi wince but he blissfully ignored her. He looked around because he could not see or sense Naruto.

''Where is Naruto?''

''He left about an hour ago because you where late.'' Sasuke said with a glare directed towards the jonin. He was furious he did not like being kept waiting. He could have left with Naruto but chose not to because to get stronger he needed to pass the test for him to be a ninja.

Kakashi brushed Sasuke's glare aside, ''Did he tell you where he was going?''

Sakura nodded, ''He said he was going back to his apartment.''

''I will be back in 10 minutes with him, so don't go anywhere.'' he said as he puffed away.

Naruto's apartment

Kakashi arrived at Naruto's apartment. He found the apartment's door slightly opened and decided to enter.

''Naruto'' He called out entering the blonds' home. He got no reply. He was surprised when he found the apartment looking empty. There was no furniture in and there things packed inside boxes. It seemed like the blond was moving out or moving things out to make space for new furniture.

'No, he is moving out.' Kakashi thought to himself.

Naruto walked in front of Kakashi, ''You are moving out?'' kakashi asked curiously.

Naruto nodded, ''This place is degrading. It's a rundown apartment, something not suitable for a shinobi.''

It was indeed degrading, but it was not the reason he felt he needed to move out now anyway. The apartment reminded of the good days he had with Madara, and his bedroom made it difficult for him to sleep since it was the place he had killed Madara. He could have gotten over that in time but he needed to find a suitable place for him to live in.

''Where are you going to live now?''

''The Shinobi district'' Naruto replied.

Kakashi just nodded, but he had questions. Naruto was definitely not getting help from the Sandaime, if he was the Sandaime would have told him about it. That begged the question, where did Naruto get the money go rent an apartment at the shinobi district. He knew that someone like Naruto who was not yet a ninja and lived off the allowance the Sandaime gave him every month should not be able to afford an apartment on his own. He would get answers when the Sandaime spoke with Naruto later on.

''Come on lets go the others are waiting for us.'' he said, Naruto nodded and went on to close the door while Kakashi disappeared.

Training ground 7

Kakashi remembered something that he wanted to tell Naruto. He had forgotten about it after he had reached the blonds' apartment. ''Naruto don't do what you did again in the future if you pass the test I'm going to give you.''

Naruto stared at Kakashi for a moment before responding, ''Give me that lecture again when you learn to respect other people's time.'' he said

Kakashi was not expecting Naruto give that kind of reply. He could not argue, but he could give a good reason as to why he had been late today, ''Well you see a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long away around. You did not have to live since it was not my intention to be late.''

Naruto just looked at him with indifference

Kakashi shrugged and looked at the rest of the team. ''Now that everyone is here we can begin with the test,'' he said, ''Your objective is to get a bell from before noon,'' he said taking out two bells, ''If you do not get a bell you will be sent back to the academy.''

''But sensei there is only two bells and there are three of us, does this mean that only two of us will become genins?'' Sakura asked confusedly.

'Should have expected that from her' Kakashi thought. ''That is if you do get the bells...now come at with the intent to kill...begin!''

The three genins dashed off to the trees to hide their positions making Kakashi smile. It was a good sign that they did listen to the academy lectures and understood some of shinobi's rules. Never show your location to your enemy. They did just that by hiding from him. It was not that they could actually hide from him, they were just genins and he was an elite jonin. They were merely trying, and he could give point for their attempts.

Kakashi made his way to the trees to look for the genins. He was in no hurry because he knew that sooner or later one would come after him and try to get the bells. He was able to detect Sakura rather easily. A few seconds later he detected Sasuke hiding in a tree, but Naruto he was unable to find. He stretched out his senses. He smiled as he found Naruto sitting comfortably on a tree branch. The blond looked comfortable and was observing him.

He looked at Sakura's direction and decided to start with her, she was the weakest of the three no doubt about that. She was no challenge in taijutsu so he decided Genjutsu would be a better test for her. The girl had a great mind genjutsu should be a good challenge for her.

Sakura felt a bit dizzy, her vision was blurry. She could not understand what was happening to her. The last minute she was perfectly fine hiding away from Kakashi while she was also looking for Sasuke. She wanted to hide where Sasuke was hiding. She needed to be near her Sasuke-kun so he could get a better look at her. But now she did not feel well.

''Ugh Sakura!''

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a voice calling her name. She could now see clearly and the weird feeling she was feeling in her head was gone. She looked up to see Sasuke coming into view. She beamed suddenly upon seeing that it was Sasuke who was calling her.

''Help me!''

Sakura looked closely at her Sasuke-kun. Her eyes opened wide as she watched Sasuke struggle his way towards her, the horror. His body was battered and bruised; it was also pierced with several Kunai's. She rushed over him trembling. Her heart was beating faster than normal. Sasuke dropped to the ground. 'Sasuke-kun' she thought as she stopped in her tracks as tears began to rush off her eyes. She felt as though her heart had stopped beating.

''Ahhhh!'' she screamed loudly at the thought that Sasuke was dead and fainted.

Kakashi looking from a distance could only sweat drop. The girl had just fallen to an easy D-rank genjutsu. She was supposed to be smart, and should have detected the genjutsu easily. 'Maybe I should have used an E-rank genjutsu' he thought. Kakashi shrugged and went away to find his next 'victim'.

Sasuke did not spare the girl a second glance. He really did not care what happened. She was a nuisance and annoying. With her out of the he could have a better chance of getting a bell. If she was still active she would no doubt get in his way and become a burden to him. He wanted to get the bell and pass the test. His quest could only be fulfilled if he became a shinobi; no one was going to stand in the way of his quest.

'Pathetic' Naruto thought looking at the fallen girl. It was clear that the girl was caught in a simple Genjutsu that she had been unable to detect. Naruto could only guess what the girl had seen to make her faint. Whatever it was it had something to do with Sasuke. Sakura was not fit to be a ninja. She was book smart, but that did not make a shinobi. Skills and dedication made a ninja, Sakura had none. All she cared for was looking good in the eyes of her Sasuke-kun. If the girl ended up being a genin with her current mindset she would certainly become killed in her first mission if her teammates don't carry her over their shoulders.

Naruto jumped off the tree he was in and made his way towards Kakashi. There was something about the test that was hidden. A genin team in Konoha was composed of three genins and a Jonin. There was no team in Konoha that was a group of 3, even the ANBU squads where made out of 4 members, 1 being captain. Konoha preached teamwork to their shinobi. The objective of the test was in contrast to that motto. Despite them not being an official team they were still a team and fighting for themselves to get the bell did not promote teamwork. Also it was not possible for academy graduates to defeat a Genin.

A thought came to his mind. They were not expected to defeat the jonin, but work together as a team. They were a team and were expected to work with one another in missions. Sasuke and Sakura would never agree to work with him. He wanted to have some fun, and he would have his fun by fighting with Kakashi. He could not beat Kakashi, but the Jonin was surely going to underestimate him. He also had the element of surprise. He would take the advantage of that.

He was stopped from going after Kakashi because Sasuke beat him to it. Naruto jumped up to a tree again he could see what the 'last faithful Uchiha' could do. It would prove certainly interesting if the Uchiha was just not full of arrogance.

Sasuke made his way towards Kakashi. He had a confident look on his face. He felt confident about his chances of getting the bells. He was different from the others. He was an Uchiha and best in the academy class. He was considered a prodigy of his age.

''I'm going to get those bells!'' he said arrogantly.

Kakashi looked at him once then looked back to his book. His response to the proclamation annoyed the hell out of the Uchiha. It was like the jonin was taking his challenge as if it was nothing, not worth his time. He hated anyone who felt as though they were superior to him.

He rushed towards the jonin at his full speed. Kakashi was slightly surprised by the speed the young Uchiha was showing. He did not put away his book though; he waited for Sasuke to come at him.

Sasuke jumped and brought his right fist trying to punch Kakashi on his face. Kakashi blocked with his free hand. Sasuke was quick to use his other hand. He forced Kakashi to dodge was punch.

Sasuke engaged the jonin again. He attempted to side kick the jonin, but Kakashi blocked his attack. Sasuke did not stop he brought out his other leg trying to kick the Jonin. Kakashi was again quick to block again.

'Shit, I can't read my book like this' Kakashi thought. Sasuke brought out his left hand trying to punch Kakashi in the chest, but the Jonin blocked again frustrating Sasuke. But he did not give up. His left leg moved faster than before heading straight at Kakashi's waist. Kakashi caught Sasuke leg, but was not given the chance to do anything as Sasuke moved with impressive flexibility. He tried gutting the jonin with his left hand. Kakashi was up to the challenge he caught Sasuke's hand with his other hand. Sasuke had expected as much, his free hand moved for the bells hanging on Kakashi's belt. He did enough to almost get them but Kakashi let go of him and jumped back a bit.

He looked at Sasuke. The boy was certainly good for an academy graduate. With his taijutsu, he could actually beat seasoned Genin. He rushed at Sasuke, catching Sasuke off guard by his superior speed. He spun around and kicked Sasuke in the chest. Sasuke flew back but recovered quickly and landed on his feet.

''You certainly are good, better than most genins.'' Kakashi commented on Sasuke's skills in Taijutsu. He was certainly skilled and Kakashi was impressed by the young Uchiha.

Sasuke did not react to Kakashi's words. He was a little angry that he was not able to get the bells. What was more troubling was that he was unable to land a hit on the Jonin. Jonin's were really strong they were unlike any other shinobi. But he still had an ace in his pocket.

He smirked and inhaled large amounts of wind. He held his hands together near his mouth as he muttered his jutsu.

**'Fire release: Great Fireball no Jutsu'**

He breathed out a large fireball that sped toward Kakashi. This was ace the jonin would have been expecting him to do that. He would certainly burn the Jonin with his jutsu and get the bells.

Kakashi had wide eyes as he looked at the Jutsu. 'An academy graduate should not have that much chakra to do that Jutsu' he thought. It was a surprise to him that Sasuke could do the jutsu at such a young age. He quickly replaced himself with a log to avoid him being burned.

Sasuke smirked in victory seeing his sensei burned. He ended his jutsu. He looked at where Kakashi was standing to see a banned log. 'Replacement' he thought as he gritted his teeth.

**''Earth release: Projection fish style no jutsu''**

Kakashi did his jutsu while he was underground. He pulled Sasuke to the ground. Sasuke cursed as he felt his feet being dragged down the ground. He was unable to stop being the dragged into the pit. Kakashi got out from the ground and appeared in front of the buried Uchiha. Sasuke was buried with only his head being the only part of his body left on the surface. He glared at Kakashi angrily.

''Get me out of here!'' he demanded. He felt embarrassed by being caught so easily. He was stuck in the pit and could not move his feet or legs.

''Sasuke-kun'' A screeching voice of Sakura stopped Kakashi from responding. Kakashi looked at the pink haired girl wondering when she had woken up.

Sakura ran towards Sasuke. ''Sasuke-kun'' she cried out trying to pull Sasuke from the pit. She was unable to do anything, as she was weak to do anything to begin with. Kakashi just watched the girl struggle his face showing a bit of amusement at what his eye was seeing.

Sakura got up tiredly and glared at Kakashi, ''Kakashi-sensei get Sasuke-kun out of here now!'' she yelled at her sensei. Kakashi raised a brow he did not think that the girl could be capable to doing something like that, standing up for Sasuke even if it was against someone stronger than both of them. She could not do anything to him but here she was demanding that he pull Sasuke from the ground. Sakura saw that Kakashi was not going to do anything and sighed dejectedly. She sat down next to Sasuke.

''Don't worry Sasuke-kun I will get you out of here.'' she said trying to make Sasuke happy. Sasuke did not bother to look at the girl he just continued glaring daggers at Kakashi who blissfully ignored all the daggers.

Kakashi realized that one of the genins was missing

Naruto was watching from afar. Sasuke was not that bad for a genin, but he expected to see more from an Uchiha. He jumped from the tree and walked calmly towards the others. Kakashi noticed him and looked back at the blonde. Naruto still had his impassive gaze on.

Sakura was the first to say something, ''Naruto come and help me free Sasuke!''

Naruto ignored her, and looked at Kakashi. He took a taijutsu stance which Kakashi was similar to the Uchiha interceptor style.

''Shall we dance Kakashi-sensei?'' Naruto said impassively.

Kakashi raised a brow but nonetheless continued reading his book. He had taken it out after he had subdued Sasuke. To anyone he might not look like he was ready, but Kakashi was paying attention to Naruto.

Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed and appeared in front of Kakashi. 'Fast' Kakashi thought with wide eyes. He had never seen an academy graduate move that fast, never in his life. He expected Naruto to surprise him, but this was too much for a surprise. Naruto right hand rushed at Kakashi, but Kakashi was quick to get over his shock, he was fast to react. He blocked the blow. He felt a tiny bit of the power behind the punch. 'He hits like Gai but at a smaller scale' Kakashi thought.

Naruto brought out his right leg and attempted to kick Kakashi on his left side. Kakashi raised his knee to block the attack. He quickly put away his book because he now knew he would get embarrassed by a genin if he continued reading the book.

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger. Naruto was moving far faster than he could and seemed better than he was.

Kakashi brought his right leg trying to hit Naruto. His foot connected with Naruto's hand. He retrieved his leg and brought it back again at Naruto. This time he spun around for more speed and power. Naruto brought out both his hands to block the attack. The power behind the kick was enough to force him back a feet away from Kakashi.

''This dance should be entertaining!'' Naruto said just enough for Kakashi to hear him.

Kakashi looked at Naruto straight in his eyes, 'he seems to be happy, and calls a fight to dance. He must really love the thrill of a good fight' Kakashi said looking at the blond. There was no smile but he could see a bit of excitement in Naruto's eyes.

Kakashi got into his own stance. Naruto seemed to be good in taijutsu and his speed was impressive. He had to seriously fight if he was going to evaluate Naruto's strength.

Naruto got back into his stance. He knew he could not beat Kakashi, but fighting against someone who could match and surpass your every move was something he could not miss. Both he and Kakashi disappeared from view and clashed in a taijutsu fight.

Naruto attempted to kick Kakashi in the face, but Kakashi bended back to avoid being hit. Naruto spun around balancing himself and not giving Kakashi enough time to attack him. Spinning around he brought his right foot trying to gut the jonin. Kakashi caught the blow and held Naruto's foot firmly with both his hands. His right foot moved fast and crashed into Naruto's stomach sending the blond flying away.

Kakashi did not give Naruto the time to recover within seconds he was already in front of Naruto. He attempted a right hook which Naruto was quick enough to block. Naruto jumped away from the jonin.

He rushed at Kakashi again. He tried crashing his foot into Kakashi's ribs but the jonin jumped back. Naruto did not stop he dashed at Kakashi and jumped up. He appeared above Kakashi, his right foot was crashing down with speed and power. Kakashi did not attempt to block, he replaced himself with a log. Naruto's foot connected with the log breaking it in half.

Sasuke was now feeling jealousy towards Naruto. Naruto was faring well against a jonin, while he could not do anything. He could not even get the jonin to fight him seriously, but Naruto was able to. Naruto was just a dead-last what could have changed for the blond to be better?

Naruto landed to the ground and stood still. His eyes narrowed to where Kakashi was. The jonin was within the trees. He disappeared off to the trees.

Sasuke and Sakura could not see anything since their teammate and sensei were fighting within the trees. But they could feel that the fight was still going on.

A few seconds later both saw their sensei flying back into the clearing. A second later Naruto appeared above the Jonin and attempted to pummel the jonin to the ground. Kakashi could not dodge but was able to bring out both his hands to block Naruto's punch. The power of the attack was enough to sending Kakashi crashing down the ground even though he had blocked the attack. A small crater was formed were Kakashi had crashed. Naruto jumped away from Kakashi allowing the Jonin to recover.

Kakashi got out of the crater and rushed at Naruto in great speed that should make him invincible to a genin. He appeared in front, Naruto was not fast enough to react as Kakashi's fist crashed to his gut making him grunt at the effects of the powerful punch.

Kakashi did hand seals and held his hands together close to his mouth doing the same jutsu Sasuke had used on him earlier albeit bigger than Sasuke's.

**''Fire release: Great fireball no jutsu''**

Naruto disappeared fast to avoid being hit by the jutsu. Kakashi ended his jutsu having sensed that Naruto had been able to dodge. Naruto was now a distance away from where he was previously.

''You are far better than I thought, far better than Sasuke. I don't think there is a genin in Konoha that can beat you. But I must end this now.'' Kakashi said, but before he could do anything the alarm rang signifying it was noon.

Kakashi sighed and motioned for Naruto to follow him to the rest of team 7. Kakashi freed Sasuke, who could not stop glaring at Naruto with clear jealousy. Naruto had been able to hit a jonin while he had been unable to. Kakashi gathered them and looked at each of them disappointedly.

''You did not get the bells, thus you failed the test.''

Naruto took out both bells from his pocket making Kakashi look at his belt and then at Naruto with wide eyes, ''When did you get them?''

''The time I pummeled you to the ground, before I jumped back I had already taken the bells. You were too focused on testing my power that you forgot about the test and you were thinking I had no interest in the bells, I just wanted to fight. That made it easy for me to get them.'' Naruto responded.

Kakashi nodded, ''So what are you going to do about the bells?''

''The aim of the test was not to get the bells but to test if we could work together as a team as three genins cannot defeat an elite jonin. I'm surprised that Sakura with all her brains couldn't figure that out.''

Sakura glared at Naruto for the jab. It seemed like one but Naruto was just pointing out that someone called smart like Sakura should have been able to figure the meaning of the test.

Kakashi noticed that fact because Naruto's face remained impassive and there was no amusement in his voice. ''If you knew that why did you not try to work with your teammates?''

''Isn't it obvious, none of them would have been willing to work with me. Sakura's only concern is Sasuke, while Sasuke thinks he does not need help and can do everything on his own and his pride would not allow him to accept help from anyone.''

Kakashi had to agree with Naruto. But Naruto should have tried to talk to them. ''Naruto is right the purpose of the test was teamwork. I could give you another chance to work together but since Naruto has the bells and I was not supposed to fail you I guess I will...pass you!'' he said making Sakura and Sasuke sigh in relief.

Naruto threw the bells back at Kakashi. Kakashi caught the bells, ''You can go now except for you Naruto. We will meet tomorrow at 9am for a team meeting.''

Both Sakura and Sasuke left but not before Sasuke glanced at Naruto.

''The Hokage's office I presume.'' Naruto said to which Kakashi nodded

Hokage's office

The Sandaime stared deep into Naruto's blue eyes. He found nothing from the blond his eyes had nothing they were just devoid of any emotion. He never thought he would see Naruto's eyes like that. Naruto knew that the Sandaime wanted to ask questions about the 'transformation'. He was not going to answer any questions he did not want to answer. No one forced him to do anything he did not like.

''Naruto what happened to you?'' The Sandaime asked breaking the silence within the room.

''I don't understand the question.'' Naruto said. He certainly did not understand what the Hokage meant. He could only guess, but guessing was not the right way to go if the person who asked the question was there to clear the question.

The Sandaime narrowed his eyes at Naruto. This was not the same Naruto he knew, ''Last week you were not like this.'' he said not really wanting to say what exactly had changed in Naruto.

''My physical appearance and attitude you mean?'' The Sandaime nodded, ''I am afraid I cannot answer that question...for now anyway.'' he responded coolly.

''Why?''

''Because Hokage-sama, it is something I don't want to reveal.''

''Naruto, why don't you want to reveal such information, what are you hiding, don't you trust me?''

''It is not a matter of trust and it is that I just don't want to tell you and I think I am entitled to my secrets.''

The Sandaime stared at Naruto sternly, but Naruto was not affected by it, ''Naruto I don't understand why you are being like this, but I don't like you keeping things from me, you are an important part of the village and everything you do I must know of it.''

''Ironic isn't it, you don't like me keeping things from you while you have been doing just that my whole life.'' Naruto said sounding almost amused but he was far from being amused.

The Sandaime and Kakashi tensed just when Naruto uttered those words. Naruto saw them tense, ''You thought I would not find out? I know everything Hokage-sama.''

The Sandaime looked at Naruto with shame and guilt. Naruto was used to seeing the look from the old man. It was like the old man wanted him to see the guilt and shame. He did not understand if it was what the old man wanted him to see or he was he felt guilt. The Sandaime could be two faced sometimes.

He brushed off his thoughts. The Sandaime had to know he knew things that he had been keeping from him. It was not going to do anyone any good if he just kept it to himself. He did not hate the old man for keeping things from him, but he hated that when the old man found that he too was keeping things from him, he was quick to show that he was displeased.

''You know of the Kyubi.'' It sounded like a question but it was not.

''Yes and about my mother.''

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, ''Only your mother?''

''I also know about the man responsible for my birth. But he never was my father. The only parent I had was my mother.''

Kakashi and the Sandaime looked at Naruto with wide eyes. They did not expect Naruto to reject Minato as his father. It only meant he hated Minato for sealing the Kyubi inside of him, condemning him to a life of hatred.

''Naruto I'm sorry for not telling you about your parents. Your father had so many enemies we feared that they would come after you to kill you as you are a Namikaze.'' The Sandaime said sadly.

''As I said Minato was not my father, I suggest you don't call him as such. Your reasons are nothing but excuses, you know full well that it was either I was killed by the villagers or the assassins. Have you forgotten what they used to do to me on my birthdays?''

The Sandaime failed to meet Naruto's gaze. How could he argue with what Naruto was saying? His life was already in danger by the villagers. It was a miracle that he had survived all the brutal beatings he had received in the hands of the villagers. ''I still am sorry Naruto for failing to protect you.''

''I never hated you,'' Naruto said, ''I don't believe there is anything more that needs to be discussed now. I will be taking my leave.'' he said disappearing from the office.

''Well that went well!'' Kakashi said.

The Sandaime shook his head, ''No nothing went well for us anyway. Everything went the way Naruto wanted it to go. He never answered any of my questions. We don't know who trained him and who told him about his heritage and the Kyubi. And I believe he has more secrets. You have to keep an eye on him Kakashi, find out what he is hiding.''

Kakashi looked at the Sandaime, ''I thought you were going to leave it as it is. Won't he tell his secrets when he is ready?''

''Maybe he might, but we cannot wait for that. Naruto was able to fool the whole village even me for the past few years. Who knows what kind of secrets he is hiding.''

''You do know that if he finds out that you sent me to spy on him, he might never forgive you.''

''That is something I am willing to accept for the good of the village.'' The Sandaime replied lighting up his tobacco pipe. If Naruto was hiding things that could make him a threat to the village they had to be found out soon. He was also not sure if Naruto was loyal to the village with what he had gone through in his life and the transformation only made him more suspicious of Naruto.

While the two talked, they never noticed a pair of yellow eyes recording their conversation

Shinobi district

Naruto walked calmly inside an apartment block. He was looking for apartment Number 38. It was the apartment he had rented and was going to move into. He climbed stairs looking for the apartment until he found it. He entered his new home and breathed in the fresh air within the apartment. He could almost smile, but at the moment he had to unpack and put in the furniture he had bought outside the village from one of his travels with Zetsu.

Naruto took out several storage scrolls from a small bag he had been carrying. The apartment had two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and a sitting room. He had all the furniture for all the rooms. He made 10 wood clones to help him unseal his things. He started unsealing the couch for his sitting-room and the large flat screen. By the time he finished putting everything in his sitting-room his clones were finished with their duties. Naruto had them dispel.

He heard a knock on the door. He went to open wondering who it might have been. No one for now knew where he was leaving. Naruto opened the door and looked at a purple haired woman, her hair reached down her waist, brown eyes and a shade of red lipstick. She was with another woman he recognized as Yuhi Kurenai.

''What can I do for you?'' Naruto asked calmly.

''Naruto!'' the purple haired woman said looking at him with slightly wide eyes. Naruto recognized the voice, 'Neko' he thought. She was an ANBU who had been once assigned to 'watch' over him.

''Are you familiar with him, Yugao?'' Kurenai asked.

Yugao smiled slightly, ''Sort of,'' she said, ''Sorry for disturbing you, we had noise like things were being moved and decided to check what it was since no one lives in this apartment.''

Naruto nodded, ''The noise must have been me. I was putting my furniture in order.''

''You are going to be leaving here?'' Yugao asked, Naruto nodded, ''What happened to your previous home?''

''Nothing'' he said dismissively.

Yugao nodded, Kurenai smiled at Naruto. ''Well it seems you and I will be neighbors.'' She said as she and Yugao turned away from his door. Naruto closed his door at walked back to his sitting room. He found Zetsu already sitting there.

''It appears you were right!'' Zetsu said

Naruto had sent Zetsu to spy on the Sandaime knowing full well that the old man was capable of anything he set his mind on.

''He does not trust you.''

''I expected as much from him. He may feel guilty for lying to me but he can see that I get dealt with should I be a threat to the village. The Sandaime might be old but he can be cold, cunning and manipulative when he wants to be.'' Naruto said, ''Who did he send then?''

''Your sensei''

Naruto nodded, ''We will see what Kakashi will discover about me.'' he said, ''I have to admit the old man is truly brave, to have someone spy on me just after the talk I had with him.'' Naruto said

''What are you going to do about it?''

''Nothing, they can look all they want but can never find about my secrets unless I want them to.'' Naruto said confidently.

**I added this chapter because I wanted to introduce the teams. Next chapter will be another time skip I will start the chunin exams. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Chapter four: The Annoyance**

6 months later

Team 7, Naruto never felt at peace within the team. There was always someone watching over him, a pair of eyes that always stared at him. It annoyed him to no end. There were a few times that he had even thought of killing someone because of the constant watchful eyes that always tailed him like his own shadow. It felt like he was a criminal by being always watched. It was not just team 7, it was everywhere he went within the village, there was always someone watching him like a hawk. Konoha did not trust him; he was seen as a flight risk. Naruto figured that the council had taken notice of his 'transformation' and were not going to take any chances with him. It was clear that no one trusted him because he refused to tell them anything. Even when they had tried to force him to talk he still had no fears, they could not touch him.

The feeling he was having now was the same his grandfather felt when Konoha had been formed and Hashirama was made Hokage. His grandfather was not trusted they could never make him leader. Without the trust of the village even from a clan he led Madara was forced to defect from the village. It was now the same with him Konoha refused to trust him, because he kept things from it. He really hoped that it did not end the same way with him as it did with his grandfather. It would make his goals hard to achieve but not impossible.

His skills in taijutsu were not what they feared; no they feared the things he was hiding. They came to a conclusion that he was hiding his true strength. That conclusion made them even more suspicious of him. They could not understand why he would hide his true strength. They thought he was hiding his true strength because he was planning something. They could not believe that it was for the good of the village because if it was for the good of the village he would not have to hide it. That was what they thought; Naruto had not intentions of doing harming the village in any way. His grandfather had founded the village along with Hashirama; his grandfather was the one to have named the village. It was only fair that he inherited it since it was founded by his grandfather. He could not go around destroying things that his grandfather had built.

Despite the constant watch he was under Naruto had no fears of his secrets ever being discovered by someone. The only reason Naruto did not have any fears was because he knew that they would never find anything from him unless he was careless. But with the constant watch he could not train anywhere or do anything 'private' outside of his own apartment. His apartment was the only place that gave him the privacy he needed. But he was sure of it sooner or later they would bypass his security seals. He was by no means a seal master, the security seals are what he had been taught by his grandfather. They were not perfect but they did their job. He could converse with Zetsu and even at times leave a clone while he goes away to the hideout to train.

With team 7, he had to worry about Kakashi who always had his eyes on him. Even when they were on missions the jonin paid too much attention on him than his other students. Kakashi was taking his job seriously than Naruto had thought the jonin would. He never made the mistake of leaving Naruto alone, no if he was going somewhere and it was during team 7 activities the jonin would leave a shadow clone to with Naruto. But the jonin was friendly and valued his team as part of his family. This values made Naruto question why Kakashi would choose to spy on one of his comrades. When the Sandaime had told him to spy on Naruto kakashi spied but not as seriously as he was doing now. Naruto thought that the council had taken part I that change. The fools were capable of anything, especially Danzo and the two advisors. If there were people to kill it would be three elders.

There was also Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. The two just annoyed him to no end. Sasuke was obsessed with fighting with him. Every time he got the chance to demand that Naruto fight him he would take it. Naruto never fought with the young Uchiha. He always refused to fight the Uchiha. Naruto hated fighting pointless battles. There was nothing he would gain from fighting the Uchiha. Despite his love for a good fight Sasuke was not worth his time. His refusals always infuriated Sasuke and he would always attempt to hit Naruto whenever he was not looking. Naruto had better reflexes and would always dodge the attacks without hitting the young Uchiha back.

Another person that caused him headaches was Sakura. Despite his attempts to ignore the girl she would not just stop talking. Naruto was sometimes tempted to put the girl in a genjutsu. He would make the girl kill herself and she would be gone from his life. She hated him because he was better than Sasuke….no she refused to believe that he was better than Sasuke, what she did was yell at him for trying to be cool and better than Sasuke. She would always tell him to stop trying to make Sasuke look bad.

Despite all the problems in team 7, the team was almost perfect when it came to teamwork. It was all that kakashi taught them and they were better at it than any other genin team. They did their missions better than any other rookie genins.

Over the past months they had done a lot of missions. But only two stood out, the mission in the wave country and mission in which they were protect Kuyoki Kazahama. The wave mission had been their first mission, and ended up being an A-rank mission because they had encountered an A-rank missing-nin, Zabuza Momochi and his accomplice Haku. Sakura had been a burden in the mission and basically did nothing useful, what she did was to tremble in fear at the thought of dying in her first real mission. They were protecting a bridge builder from a man name Gatou. Team 7 did succeed the mission and managed to get Gatou killed despite the odds being against them. Sasuke had awakened his sharingan during the battle in the bridge. It made him even more arrogant now that he had finally awakened the Uchiha clan blood line. It made the Uchiha feel superior to anyone thinking that no one could match the power of the Uchiha eyes.

The mission to protect Kuyoki was also a success. They went to the snow country on the mission and found out that Kuyoki was a real princess. The team had thought she just played a princess in movies. Her country was being controlled by her uncle who had killed her father to take over the country. The woman at first had been refusing to accept her role as princess of the country, but after her uncle was killed she finally decided to become ruler of the snow country.

Naruto had been thinking of a better way to reveal some of his secrets to Konoha to get them off his back. Revealing some secrets would get them to lessen the number of shinobi they have following him. They would not need to have him watched 24/7 since they would have found out what he had been hiding from them. He would have more space to breath and more privacy than he currently. He was patient and would wait for the right time. Rushing into things had its consequences; he would rather not have to deal with those if he could just wait a little more.

Naruto was walking calmly towards training ground seven alone. Looking around the village he had come to notice that some of the villagers had stopped glaring at him, they had lost their hateful looks but not all of them had some still did glare at him but they had lost the intensity they used to have before he was a genin. The kind of change surprised him. He did not understand what had made them stop glaring at him. He did not think that it was because he looked like their dead precious Yondaime.

Naruto was so consumed by his thoughts that he was not paying attention to where he was going. He ended up bumping into someone who also seemed to have been lost in thoughts. Likely no one was hurt since they were not moving at a fast pace. Naruto fathered himself and looked at who he had hit. He noticed that there were three people in front of him. The one he had bumped into was glaring at him; he was a boy at his teens.

"What where you are going brat!" the boy who Naruto had bumped into yelled. He wore a black body suit and black shinobi sandals. His face was painted with face paint. He wore a Sunagakure forehead protector. He had something strapped behind his back that Naruto could tell what it was. It did not seem like a weapon or anything he had seen before,

Naruto was not going to apologize to the boy. He had never apologized to anyone before and he was not going to start now. There Suna shinobi was glaring at him like he could actually beat him. He was underestimating him because he was younger than him. Naruto ignored the Suna shinobi's words and looked at the other two in front of him.

There was a blonde haired girl. Her haired were tied into four pig-tails at her back, her eyes were light green. She had a battle fan strapped behind her back. She was slightly taller than the boy in the black body suit. She wore a light purple dress that showed her well developed breasts, there was a shinobi fishnet under her dress and her dress was short it revealed some of her body. Her forehead was tied on her neck.

The last one seemed younger than the others. He seemed to be at the same age as Naruto. He had short spiky red hair; his eyes were blank with a dark tint. On top of his left eye there was a tattoo with a Kanji for love. He had an emotionless look on his face and gave off a feeling blood bloodlust. He had a gourd behind his back. The three were Sunagakure shinobi's.

The blonde and the red haired just looked at him while the black haired in a black body suit was enraged at that Naruto had ignored him. He brought out his right hand and grabbed Naruto by his shirt, "Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you, you little shit!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes dangerously at the teen. This was something he could not forgive. One did not touch him like this and got away with it. Yes he did hit the teen but it was not intentional he was lost in his thoughts so was the teen.

"Kankuro what are you doing?" the blonde haired girl barked.

The now identified Kankuro did not even bother to look at her, he just grinned, "I am trying to teach this brat to respect those older than him." he said.

Before anyone could do anything Naruto drove his fist into Kankuro's stomach. Kankuro let go of Naruto and clutched his stomach while gritting his teeth. "That hurt" he said under his breath

"That is what happens when you act like a fool, and now you are embarrassing our village by your foolishness." A cold voice of the red haired spoke making the blonde and Kankuro tense. Looking at Kankuro he seemed scared of something and it was like he had forgotten the presence of the red haired.

"Sorry Gaara!" Kankuro said. Naruto wondered why he was apologizing; even the girl seemed to get nervous when Gaara spoke. But the name Gaara brought those thoughts to a halt. He knew the name.

"Sand siblings, I should have recognized the children of the Yondaime Kazekage," Naruto said impassively, "Subaku no Gaara, Jinchuriku of the Ichibi," he said making the eyes of two of the sand shinobi wide, "Subaku no Kankuro and Subaku no Temari, the eldest of the Sand siblings." He said and narrowed his eyes at Kankuro, Gaara smiled, it was a creepy smile. It was as if he was imagining Kankuro being fed his own hand, "Next time you touch me like that I will cut off your hand and feed it to you." He said darkly making Kankuro gulp at the threat, "If it was not that you are a guest to the village I would have killed you for your foolishness, you don't try to attack someone without even evaluating their strengths." He lectured walking away.

"What is your name?" Gaara asked in his emotionless voice.

Naruto stopped and looked at the Jinchuriku, "Uzumaki Naruto, I was shall see you at the exams Subaku no Gaara." He said and disappeared from the view.

Gaara grinned madly making his siblings look at him fearfully. They knew that kind of smile it was the kind of grin he always wore when he was thinking of crushing someone with his sand. They feared that kind of smile, they could only feel sorry for the blond should he meet Gaara in the battle field.

Training ground 7

'Chunin exams' Naruto thought, he had forgotten about them. Zetsu had informed him about them. He thought that it was why kakashi had called them today. They had been on a break from their previous missions it was not yet over. With the exams coming, it would prove difficult for him to hide his secrets from everyone. That is if he meets someone he could not defeat in a taijutsu fight, though he knew that no mere genin or chunin could defeat him in a taijutsu fight villagers could always send jonins in the chunin exams. Naruto brushed off his thoughts his taijutsu was superior to most even some jonins taijutsu was inferior to his. His speed gave him a great advantage against most opponents.

Sasuke and Sakura walked side by side towards the training ground. Looking at them they always came together at the training ground…well not always together but most of the time. It was like they lived in the same house or where neighbors, but they were none of that. It was a mystery how they could arrive at the same time at the training ground most of the time where as they did not live together. They could only make it together if Sakura knew which rote Sasuke took to the training ground, but knowing sasuke he would have changed the road he took upon seeing that sakura knew the way he used for the training ground.

Sakura always knew where Sasuke was, it was like the girl had sensing abilities that only worked on Sasuke.

Sasuke glared at Naruto before looking away. It was nothing new to Naruto, it was either Sasuke demanded that he fought with him or he just glared at him and looked away. Naruto preferred to be glared at than having Sasuke demand that they find. That way he did not have to deal with the Uchiha.

They did not wait for too long in the silence because Kakashi had decided to make it in time for the first time. Not even the fact that Naruto would leave the training ground after waiting for an hour for the jonin had probed him to arrive in time for team meetings. It was a surprise to the whole team.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted his students with his eye smile in place and the ever present orange book present in his right hand.

"What is wrong Kakashi-sensei, why are you are not late?" Sakura said in a low tone.

Kakashi smiled, "Nothing is wrong, is it that surprising that I am on time?"

No one answered the question. Sasuke got down to business, "Why did you bring us here Kakashi-sensei? I thought we were still having as time off."

"Can't I just bring you here so that we can get together we are a team after all." Kakashi said flipping a page in his book. Sasuke glared at him, Kakashi sighed at the Uchiha's attitude, "Fine I brought you here because I have some good and important news that I want to tell you." He said taking his eye off his book. Sasuke stopped glaring at him wanting to know the important news the sensei had for them.

"Then let's hear it!" Naruto spoke for the first time since Kakashi appeared.

Kakashi gave them a wide eye smile, "I have nominated you for the chunin selection exams," he said. Sasuke smiled at the news, it was a great opportunity for him to test his powers against other strong genins he would surely meet at the exams. Naruto face remained impassive while Sakura looked unsure. Kakashi took out three pieces of papers handed each to his students, "If you are want to enter the exams, the choice is yours. But if you do decide to take the exams take the forms with you to the academy at room 301, tomorrow at 8am." He said

"Kakashi-sensei, are you sure we are ready to take the exams?" Sakura said not sure if she really wanted to take the exams. She knew she was not strong to take the exams.

Kakashi nodded, "If I did not believe you were ready to take the exams I would never have nominated you. I believe that you are ready you just have to believe in yourselves." He said smiling, "Remember it is a personal choice, no one will force you to take the exams if you decide not to take them. But I must warn you if you do decide to take the exams. You might find yourself facing against strong genins like Naruto or someone strong like Haku, I'm sure you do remember him….well ja ne!" He said disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Sakura paled at the thought of facing someone strong like Haku. Haku had almost killed Sasuke, she could not possibly go against someone he was able to defeat Sasuke. Sasuke was strong and cool if she was to face someone stronger than him she would certainly be killed. She looked at Sasuke, who was smiling it was a true happy smile. She did not want to disappoint him, she could enter ad finally show him that she was strong and not weak as he always said she was.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a small smile, "I hope you enter the exams because I really want to fight you, Naruto." He said going away with his smile still in place. He was holding the form firmly as he did not want to lose it. The chunin selection exam was a good chance for him to test the power of the Uchiha. Sakura also walked away with a lot in her mind.

Naruto looked at the form and sighed, the exams were going to be nothing but be troublesome for him. He sighed and walked away to clear his thoughts.

Hokage monument

It was sunset and Naruto was enjoying view up in the Hokage monument. He had managed to get the shadows that always followed him to follow a clone while he got some breathing space. He did need the time sometimes, a time where nobody was watching him, recording everything he did. He felt annoyed when he sensed someone coming to him. He did not want to talk to someone at this time. He turned around to see an old man with a cane, his right hand was wrapped up in bandages, and his left eye was also bandaged. He had an x shaped scar on his chin.

"Shimura Danzo," Naruto said, "I was wondering when you would appear before me." looking at the bandages he felt disgusted knowing what the old man was hiding under those bandages. Danzo was another person in his must-kill list. He was also a threat because he desired to be Hokage, the old man loved to be in control of Konoha. But he was going to be patient and let the old man play for now.

Danzo's face was impassive as he studied Naruto, 'Kyubi' he thought. He did not see a person when looking at Naruto, no he saw the Kyubi, a weapon that must be under his control. He only could make it powerful and program it to fight for the village. The Sandaime had been a fool in refusing him to take the boy. He could have trained the boy so that he could become a loyal weapon for the village, not someone who was a flight risk. "The village seems peaceful looking at it from here isn't it?" he said trying to see how the blond would respond. He could not get into serious business without having an idea of the kind of person the blond was. He had reports from his ROOT ANBU, but to confirm everything he needed to see it himself.

"It is lovely, but get to the point I do not think you came here to talk of such trivial things." Naruto said

Danzo nodded, "I have a proposition for you." He said.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the old man. Danzo was looking at him with cold and calculating eyes. "I have no interest in joining your ROOT forces Danzo; in fact I have no interest in associating myself with you." He said firmly.

If Naruto knew of his ROOT which was a secret that only those in ANBU knew, the boy must know some more secrets. His ROOT was an S-rank secret, not even some jonin knew of it. His ROOT is thought to have been disbanded but it was still operating underground. In official reports it was not but he was still running his division. "I see out suspicions were right about you, how do you know of my ROOT division." He asked curiously wanting to see of the boy would give him something.

"You ROOT is not much of a secret but what you with your ROOT is what is the secret that no one outside your Division knows." He said, "But Danzo, I am not a threat to the Village as you people perceive me to be."

Danzo now saw a threat in Naruto, they boy spoke of what his ROOT activities like he knew what they did. It was not good for him anyone that did not agree with his ideals was a threat to him and his goals. What troubled him most was that he did not know the capabilities of the blond. Then fact that Naruto was a jinchuriku made him a threat if he was not working with him. But he was a patient man; Naruto was still young he was bound to make crucial mistakes that would cost him. He would be ready to capitalize and get the boy to work with him. The power of the Kyubi was needed to further his plans. If all else failed then he would have to eliminate the boy.

Danzo turned around to leave, "My offer to join my cause still stands. I can make you great and teach you how to control the power of the Kyubi should you join me!" he said and disappeared.

Naruto sighed it went better than he had thought it would. He did not reveal much to the old war hawk. Danzo was capable of doing anything he would not be surprised he sent his ROOT to capture him. The old war hawk had a way of controlling people. But he did not fear that, because of his grandfather and his sharingan he could resist any hypnosis. No one could control him with a sharingan.

Zetsu appeared from the ground, it was just his head only. Naruto looked at him, "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to hear everything you said to Danzo." Zetsu replied.

"Since you were here, did you have a white Zetsu spore attached to Danzo?" naruto asked. He thought that Zetsu might have just done that knowing that Danzo was a threat.

"Yes, I figured that you might want me to do something like that."

"Good, that man is slippery you can never know what he will do next. With Zetsu's spore on him I will know everything he does, what he says, and who he meets. I do not want that old man to surprise." Naruto said.

"When are you going to make a move against him?"

"In time, right now I am not strong enough to start with my plans. Everything will be in motion once I get strong enough." Naruto said.

"Staying the way you are and in the village is not helping you become strong." Zetsu pointed out.

Naruto nodded, agreeing with Zetsu, "I know that, I will think of something after the exams." he said.

The academy

Sasuke and sakura where waiting for Naruto at the Academy entrance. Sasuke had no doubt that Naruto would show up. Sakura was the one had thought would never show up for the exams the girl was weak. Yesterday she did not seem too sure of herself that she would enter. It did not take long for Naruto to appear. The blond was still in his black attire, but had a sword strapped behind him.

Sasuke looked at him curiously, "You know how to use a sword?" he asked.

"Yes, but I'm not good at it, it is just useful in dealing with annoyances."

Both his teammates knew that he meant weak people by annoyances. Naruto had brought his Ninjato because he refused to get his hands dirty with blood stains of weaklings. A sword could do the job for him without dirtying him.

Sasuke shrugged, "Let's go inside." He said turning around to face the academy doors. Both his teammates followed him behind.

The academy was full of activities. Naruto was not interested in anything though he just wanted to get over with it. The only person that interested him was the sand Jinchuriku. The others would just be annoyances that talked more than what was necessary. At least he did bring his sword with them.

The team walked inside the academy ignoring everything else that was taking place. They wanted to get to the room they were told to by their sensei. It was of no benefit to them to get into other people's business.

They were stopped when a green blur appeared in front of them. The boy in front them wore a green jumpsuit; his forehead protector was worn as a belt on his waist, and black shinobi sandals. He had thick eyebrows and shiny black hair. He looked at the boys then at sakura. He smiled at her and gave her a thumps up.

"You must be Haruno Sakura, I am Rock Lee," he introduced himself to the pink haired girl. Then he blushed slightly, "Will you go out with me, I will protect you with my life." He said

Sakura was quick to speak, the boy was lame his jumpsuit, hair and everything about just seemed wrong. "Eh…no!" she said. 'I belong to Sasuke-kun' she thought to herself. Sasuke seemed disappointed at her answer. He had hoped that the girl would accept Lee's proposition and leave him the heck alone, but seems that it was not to be.

Lee seemed disappointed at the rejected and brightened up slightly. He looked at straight at naruto's eyes, "You are Uzumaki Naruto, correct?" Naruto nodded, "Gai-Sensei told me that you are the best taijutsu user out of all the genins." He said, "Fight with me I would like to see if you really are good. I'm a taijutsu specialist if I want to be the best I must beat what is considered the best."

Naruto looked at the genin in front of him for a moment before speaking, "As much as I love to dance, I have to interest in taking part of a pointless dance."

"Dance?" Lee said confusedly.

Sakura sighed Naruto referred fighting as a dance. Never has she once heard him say the word "Fight" it was always dance with him, "He means to fight." She answered Lee seeing his confusion.

When it sank in his head Lee took a taijutsu stance, "I'm afraid I must insist." He said

Naruto knew the boy was not going to take no for an answer. He really hated being dragged into a fight he did not wish to take part in. he looked at Lee for a second then disappeared in a burst of speed. Despite Lee being in a taijutsu stance he was not expecting Naruto to attack him. He was also not expecting Naruto to move at the speed he moved at. He could only move at the kind of speed without his weights.

Naruto wore no weights he only wore them when he was training.

Now Lee found himself wide eyed. Naruto's sword was on his neck poised to pierce it. He could not do anything at the situation he was in. Naruto's knee was down on the ground as he needed to get low to get into the position he was in. He was in front of Lee with his sword raised. Everyone who saw him was shocked at his speed. Sasuke gritted his teeth he hated seeing naruto look strong. He hated admitting it that naruto was faster than, stronger than him. Even with his sharingan activated he had only increased his strength by a few miles but it was nothing compared to Naruto.

"I refuse!" Naruto said firmly, Lee nodded slowly. "Good" Naruto said retrieving his sword. He sheathed it and walked past Lee causing his teammates to follow him behind.

They had an exam to take. Sasuke glared at Naruto's back with his fist clenched. He had tried so many ways to surpass Naruto but he still failed to do that. He needed more power to surpass Naruto. If he could not defeat Naruto then there was no way he was going to be able to defeat Itachi. He needed to beat Naruto first then he would be able to defeat Itachi.

Team 7 walked towards room 301 in silence. They reached the doors and were stopped from opening the door when Kakashi appeared between them and the door. Kakashi's eye smile was in place as well as his orange book, make out paradise.

"Kakashi-sensei what are you doing here?" Sakura asked looking at her sensei.

Kakashi was a little surprised that Sakura had decided to enter the exams. He looked at Sasuke; Sasuke was the reason the girl entered the exams. If Sasuke was not in her team she would never have entered the exams. With the look he saw on her face yesterday it was truly a surprise that she decided to come. 'I should not be surprised' kakashi thought to himself. There was really nothing that Sakura would not do for Sasuke.

He sighed and closed his book, "I'm glad that you all decided to take part in the exams," he said, "But to be honest with you, the chunin selection exams can only be taken by a team of three. For example if Sakura had decided against taking part in the exams Naruto and Sasuke would have been eligible to take part in the exams."

Sakura felt relieved that she had decided to take part in the exams or she would surely have disappointed Sasuke. She had no doubt that Naruto was going to participate but that would not have mattered had she decided against participating in the exams. Sasuke would have been upset with her had she stood in the way of him taking part in the exams. She looked at her sensei, "Why did not you tell us that yesterday?"

"I wanted everyone to participate on their own choices not because they were forced to. If you had decided not to take part in the exams Sasuke would have forced you to enter." He replied earning a nod from Sakura. She knew it too well Sasuke would have forced her to enter the exams. She was not sure how Naruto would react if she had chosen not to enter, but thinking of it Naruto might have cared either way.

"Sakura don't allow yourself to be a burden to your teammates," Kakashi said firmly, Sakura nodded she had always needed to her teammates to carry her. Even Naruto did look out for her at sometimes even though she knew he didn't give a damn about what happened to her. "Well then, good luck….ja ne!" Kakashi said as he disappeared in swirl of leafs. Even though Sakura was weak he was not a bit worried about her for he knew that her teammates would look out for her.

Naruto stepped forward and opened the door, and his teammates followed him as he entered room 301.

The moment they entered the room they were greeting by killing intents from different directions. Sasuke shrugged it off even though it made him a bit uncomfortable, he had come across killing intents that made him want to kill himself so this was nothing. Sakura held her hands together she was a bit scared now because the killing intents were too much for her.

'Pathetic' Naruto thought. Killing intents of such level did not move him. Madara had trained to withstand killing intents even from something such as the Kyubi. Madara might have been old at the time by one he still that had made Naruto afraid of the old man was his killing intent. The first time he had experienced a dose of it he had fainted because it had been pressing him down like nothing he had ever felt before. Such things had made his killing student frightening for mere genins. Another thing that had made it frightening was his grandfather's DNA. Naruto possessed a bit of Madara's chakra. He did not let it leak because he did not want to scare anyone.

There were a lot of genins in the room. They had not expected the participants to be in the exams. "There sure are a lot of them." Sakura commented earning a nod from Sasuke. It did not matter to Sasuke though, he was happy, so many participants meant he would have more competition.

"Sasuke-kun you are late!" Ino yelled as she jumped on Sasuke's back placing her head on his shoulder.

It was obvious that sasuke was annoyed by the girl's actions. One would see it because the Uchiha's eyes were twitching. He was not the only one who was annoyed by Ino's actions. Sakura was displeased she grew a tick mark on her forehead. Ino did not see Sakura she was busy with her Sasuke, "It has been long since we last saw each other Sasuke-kun! How have you been?" Ino asked.

If Sasuke was going to respond he never got the chance to do so, "Get away from Sasuke-kun, Ino pig!" She yelled angrily as she marched to get Ino off Sasuke. There was only one girl for Sasuke and that girl was her not Ino.

Ino took notice of Sakura's presence in the room. She had not seen the pink haired bunshee her eyes were only on Sasuke. She looked around and saw Naruto with arms crossed on his chest and a bored look on his face. 'He is kind of hot' she thought with blush. She looked back at Sakura and smirked, "If it isn't big ugly forehead Sakura, I thought you would be at home playing make up." She said. Sakura grew another tick mark on her forehead Ino was making her look bad in front of Sasuke. She could not tolerate something like that. No it was unacceptable.

"You are guys are taking the troublesome exams too, this is so troublesome." A lazy voice of Nara Shikamaru spoke knocking Sakura off her thoughts. Naruto looked at the genin and did something that shocked both Sasuke and Sakura.

He smiled at Shikamaru

It was a small smile but a smile nonetheless. They had never seen him smile since the formation of team 7. His face was always impassive or with a bored expression. Sakura stared at Naruto, "Sasuke-kun did naruto just smile?" she asked, surprisingly Sasuke responded with a nod.

Ino looked at them confusedly, "Is it that surprising to see Naruto smile?" she asked looking at the two. Both ignored her as they got over their shock.

Shikamaru gave a small nod to Naruto before answering Ino, "I guessing it is shocking to them because they had never seen Naruto smile during their time in team 7." He said earning a nod from Ino.

"I found you!" Kiba yelled as he made his way to the group, "Looks like everyone has assembled." He said as his teammates joined the group from behind the Genin. Shino still had his impassive expression while Hinata like…well Hinata. She greeted the group and started to poke her fingers as soon as she laid her eyes on Naruto. A pink tint appeared on her cheeks. Naruto noticed but shrugged it off. He was not the only who noticed in the group.

"Not you guys too, this is has become too troublesome." Shikamaru said with a sigh as he looked at Team 8.

"Yeh we are! And guess what." Kiba said, "Together we make the rookie nine of Konoha!" he yelled not hiding his excitement. Akamaru barked in agreement to his masters words, "This is the first time in years that rookies took part in the chunin selection exams, and we are the ones to do it! He said showing that he did read a bit of history.

"You seem rather confident Kiba." Sasuke said with a smirk on his face.

Kiba snorted, "Of course I am confident," he said, "We did a lot of training since we became genin and we won't losing to the likes of you like we did in the academy." He said confident that he could beat someone like Sasuke.

Sasuke snorted there was no way someone like Kiba would take him down. Kiba was saying what he was saying because he had a mouth to speak.

Naruto looked away from the group as he sensed someone coming close to the group.

"You guys should be quiet! Aren't you the rookie genins?" I silver haired genin said as he approached the group. The group took a look at him. The genin had silver hair, his eyes were small and black in color, and he wore large round glasses. He had a konoha forehead protector tied on his forehead signifying that he was a shinobi from Konoha. He wore dark purple pants with a shuriken holster on his right hip, dark purple shirt and black shinobi sandals. He looked to be in his early twenties If not late teens. "You are screaming like school girls! This is not a pick nick." He said earning glares from some of the genins.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Sasuke said feeling insulted by the genins remark. It was damning to his pride to be called a school girl.

"Me?" the elder genin asked half surprised, "I'm Kabuto but I'm not the one you should be worried about. Look behind you." He said.

The rookies looked behind them to see pissed off genins staring at them. Naruto did not bother to look around they could stare at him all they liked he would not care. It was not like they could do anything to him. Most of the genins felt nervous because of the glares that they were receiving from the other participants. It was like the whole room was against them. Ino and Sakura paled seeing the glares if there was a bed somewhere in the room they would rush over to it and hide under it. Hinata was quick to get behind Kiba; she was using Kiba as her shield. Naruto looked at Kabuto with an unreadable expression. There was defiantly suspicious about Kabuto.

"Those guys are from the Village Hidden in Rain, they have short tempers. You may want to keep your voices down to avoid making them angry." Kabuto said looking at the Rain genins. The rookies looked at the Rain genins, they indeed looked like trouble. Their glares were enough to make the female rookies shudder. "Well I guessed I can't blame you. You are clueless rookies after all." He said as he glanced at Sasuke. Naruto noticed this it was not the first time Kabuto looked at Sasuke with interest. Sasuke was unaware of the glances Kabuto was giving him. But Naruto could tell that Kabuto took interest in Sasuke, "Well I guess you guys do remind me of myself." Kabuto said in mirth.

"So this is your second time taking part in the exams?" Sakura asked with a bit of hesitant

"No this is my seventh time actually. The chunin selection exams are held twice a year so this also makes it my fourth year taking the exams." Kabuto replied with a small smile. Kiba whistled the exams must be hard if a person can fail them six times. Naruto raised a brow, 'Seven times taking the exams' thought. He could not have failed so many times unless he was doing it intentionally. He could not see how anyone would fail the chunin exams seven times. Even someone with half brains could not fail the exams so many times.

"Since you guys remind me of me, I will show you what I have gathered for the exams." he said taking out a deck of cards from his pouch, "These are nin-info cards! I have gathered information on every participant in the exams."

"Do you have information on individuals?" Sasuke asked clearly interested

"You are worried about someone?" Kabuto asked with a smirk looking at Sasuke, "My info is not perfect, but it not the same as having nothing," he said, "Just tell me the name of the person and I will tell you what I know about the person." Kabuto said pushing his glasses up, something that seemed to be a habit of his.

"Give me information on Uzumaki Naruto." Sasuke said. The other genins were clearly interested in learning something about this 'transformed' Naruto. Naruto looked at Kabuto wondering what Kabuto had on him.

Kabuto nodded and began to read one of his cards, "Uzumaki Naruto genin from Konoha. He graduated as a dead-last but changed afterwards. Nobody really knows what happened. He is in team 7 along with Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke their Jonin-sensei being Hatake Kakashi. Naruto has completed 15 D-rank missions, 1 C-rank mission, and 2 A-rank missions along with his teammates. He specializes in taijutsu. His speed is said to rival that of a jonin and can defeat some Jonin's in a pure taijutsu fight." Kabuto read.

"Hey when did you guys get to do A-rank missions?" Kiba asked, of all what Kabuto had read to them the fact that team 7 had done A-rank missions was more important to him more than info on Naruto.

No one in team 7 answered his questions. 'His information is accurate' Naruto thought, the info Kabuto had on him was the same as the one that konoha had on him in their records.

"Can you give me information of Subaku no Gaara." Naruto spoke for the first time since he entered the room. He had all the information he needed on Gaara; he just wanted to see what Kabuto had on the Jinchuriku.

Kabuto nodded, "Subaku No Gaara, genin from Sunagakure. His sensei is Baki, teammates are his siblings Subaku no Temari and Kankuro. Gaara has done 15 D-rank missions, 7 C-rank missions, 5 B-rank missions, 3 A-rank missions. In all his missions he has never been hurt; he comes back without an injury. He has a sand defense that protects him, it is said that his sand defense is the ultimate defense. His ninjutsu is based on sand only, his taijutsu is poor, and genjutsu.'' Kabuto read out looking the expressions of the genins. Most of them were sweating cold; a genin who goes on an A-rank mission and comes back without an injury was someone they did not expect to come across. Kabuto smirked at their reactions; even Sasuke seemed a little over the edge by the information he read. He looked at Naruto; Naruto showed no reaction to what he had read like the blond already knew everything.

'Nothing I don't already know' Naruto thought. He had information on every jinchuriku. It was important for him to know all the information as he would have to deal with them one day as his years progressed. For him to get Tobi to come after him he would have to disrupt the man's plans. Getting to the jinchuriku before Tobi was the best option he could take. Thinking of Gaara the jinchuriku could prove to be a good challenge for him. He would surely like to test this so called ultimate defense that Jinchuriku is said to have.

"I will tell you the contestants you should avoid in the….." Kabuto spoke but was cut off by Naruto.

"There are no other strong contestants, the rest are weak, they are nothing but annoyances!" Naruto said a little too loud. All the contestants heard him but Naruto did not care of they did. A team of Sound genins did not take Naruto's words kindly. They were going to show Naruto who was weak.

"Let's show the blond that we are not weak." One said in a rough voice earning nods from his teammates. They were about to charge at Naruto when a puff of smoke was born within the room.

"I will not accept that kind of behavior in here got that!" A figure that was one with the smoke that had been born within the room said sternly glaring at the students. He leaked out a dose of his killing intent to make his point. The killing intent prompted the genins to nod vigorously.

The figure smile, ''Alright you maggots take you sits now!'' He said in a firm voice making the Genins hurry up to take their sits. The genins took each of their assigned sits and looked back at the man in front of the room.

''I am Morino Ibiki! I am the proctor of the first test of the chunin selection exams!'' The proctor introduced himself to the Genins. ''Those who do not follow my rules will automatically fail!'' He said as he released a burst of KI scaring some Genins in the room. ''The first test will be a written test.'' he said as Chunin's began to drop papers in front of each sited Genin.

''The rules of exams are as follows and there will be no questions asked'' He said with a commanding tone releasing his KI to make it clear that he was serious. He tapped the chalkboard in front of the Genins and the rules appeared.

''Chunin selection exam test rules! Rule 1: test takers start off holding a perfect test score of 10 points. The test itself has 10 points for each question answered incorrectly a point is deducted. Rule 2. The test is a team event. The passing score of each team is calculated by adding the scores if each team member all together. Rule 3 those caught cheating will have two points deducted for each offence. Rule 4 those who lose all their points or do not answer any question correctly will fail along with their teammates.'' all genins read from the board. Some looked at their teammates to see if they were prepared. If Naruto was still stupid Sakura would have been worrying about Naruto. But she had nothing to worry about he was smart enough to pass the test. She did not have to worry about Sasuke either.

''I expect nothing but the best from genins trying to become chunin!'' He paused looking at every Genin in the room ''You will only answer questions 1 to 9. The 10th question will be answered after we finish the first 9. The exam with be for 45 minutes BEGIN!'' He yelled the last part as the Genins flipped their papers.

Naruto looked at the questions and raised an eyebrow. Had he not been reading different books and scrolls ever since he was six he would never be able to answer any of the question. He was thankful that Madara had brought him all those books he had brought for him to read. The questions were difficult but he could answer them. He was sure that not even some Chunin's could answer the type of questions that are within the papers. It only meant that they did not expect all of them to pass. Naruto thought for a moment before narrowing his eyes around the room. Sasuke had his sharingan activated copy others movements, he was doing well. If it was not for the fact that he had been hiding his doujutsu he would have surely doing the same as Sasuke just to make things interesting. He looked at room and seemed like most are cheating. 'Information gathering' Naruto thought looking at the genins who were cheating. He concluded that they are excepting the genins to cheat without getting caught. It was a test to see if one had information skills. Such skills were useful for missions. Naruto did not have to worry about having to acquire such skills he had Zetsu to do it for him. But that did not mean he did not learn a thing or two from him, he did learn a few things so that he could look for information himself whenever Zetsu was unavailable to do it for him. Because. Gathering information would involve breaking into offices private buildings one has to be discreet. Such acts would get one killed should they be caught in the act. The Hyuga's had their Byakugan's activated. The Byakugan was a useful tool for something such as gathering information because of its ability to see through solid objects. They did call it the all Seeing Eye. Hinata looked to be checking him out he figured the girl might have been looking to see if she could help him since he had not yet answered any questions. He sighed and began to answer the questions.

A few Genins got caught cheating which resulted in them being thrown out of the room. They were thrown out because they had been denying that they were cheating the exams. If ones teammate got caught it meant it was all over for the whole team. Something like this could break and make a team. The others could blame the one who got caught for their failure. Which would be true, had he not been caught they would never had failed the exam. But some would help each seeing that their teammate lacks in information gathering skills.

The 45 minutes was over and Ibiki stopped them from answering any more questions.

''We will now begin with the tenth and final question!'' He announced making everyone look up to him.

''Now before we begin I should tell you that there is an added rule to the question.''

''Now this rules of are of desperation.'' He paused to let the words sink into their heads. ''The first rule is whether or not you will take the question.'' he said making the Genins look at him confusedly.

Temari, Naruto recognized asked a question for everyone. ''What will happen if we choose not to take the question?'' She asked curiously.

''If you choose not to take it your points will be dropped to zero and you will fail along with your teammates.'' He spoke.

''Then we take the question!'' A genin yelled out standing up from position. The other Genins nodded in agreement with him.

''Another rule is associated with this question. If you take the question and answer it incorrectly, that person will lose the right to become chunin ever again.'' Ibiki stated with a serious tone making them believe that he was dead serious.

Well apparently Kiba did not get it he shouted his thoughts. ''What kind of stupid rule is that! There are people who have taken the exam multiple times right here!'' He shouted pointing at Kabuto who had told the rookie nine that he had been taking the exams for the fourth year now.

Ibiki smirked, ''You guys are just unlucky this is this year's rule.'' some Genins began to look at their teammates trying to figure out what they were going to do. Whether take the question and risk being unable to become a chunin should they fail. Naruto just set there looking calm as always.

''But I am a nice guy.'' He said getting the attention of the murmuring Genins. ''I am giving you a chance to choose whether to take the question or not,'' he paused for a moment to let them think 'I have to stay calm and follow the lead teammates' Sakura thought to herself as she d at Sasuke and Naruto who both looked calm. Ibiki continued, ''Now let's begin with the tenth question. Those who do not wish to take the question may raise their hands and once their numbers have been confirmed they may leave.''

Silence engulfed the room as everyone was in their thoughts.

''I-I can't take it.'' A random genin said as he stood up and began to leave the room. His teammates were behind him. Some also raised their hands; there were quite a number of them who left because of fear. Naruto just shook head at their actions, fear was really strong to use. The numbers died down and almost half of the participants had left.

And then people stopped raising hands. Naruto looked at Sakura; she seemed to be calm which was good. He would have hated if she was to rise up her hand and get them disqualified. He needed to test the Ichibi's jinchuriku's power.

''I will repeat this once, your whole life is riding on this, and this is your last chance!'' He said giving the genins a last chance to quiet the test.

None raised their hands they just looked at the proctor with confident looks. He looked around that were left and sighed. 27 teams Anko was not going to be happy about it.

''Good decision! To everyone still remaining here I would like to congratulate you on passing the first test of the chunin selection exams.'' Ibiki said with a small smile. Silence engulfed the room they were shocked at what the man had just said.

''What! What about the tenth question?'' Temari shouted.

''There is not tenth question.'' Ibiki said as he began to explain what he had done. It was that chunin captains had a responsibility to take missions, when facing with the decision on which mission to take. You might get a mission you have no info about. You would have to gather information. You also cannot refuse a mission simply because it is too dangerous. The type of thinking 'We will do it again next year' was not a mentality of a chunin.

Naruto sensed someone approaching the window fast. By the looks of things the person was going to crash into the window.

The windows shattered and the Genin looked to see a burner that read 'The sexy second exam proctor Mintrashi Anko'

''All right brats there is no time for celebrations I am the second exam proctor now follow me!'' the female standing beside the burner yelled. She had violet hair, her eyes where brown. She wore an overcoat, with a fitted mesh body that stretched from her neck to her thighs and a dark orange mini-skirt.

The genins got from their sits and followed her.

They followed her till they reached a fence. Behind the fence was the forest. It gave all bad vibes to the Genin. They were signs if danger all over fences. It signified that it was a dangerous place. Anko had a too sweet smile upon seeing the forest as if she was familiar with it. Naruto knew the woman was always at the forest of death playing with her snakes. It was creepy.

''This is training ground 44 also known as the 'Forest of Death' it will be the stage of the second chunin selection exam.'' Anko said with a grin.

''This place gives me the creeps.'' Sakura said. She had never been to the place but the weird feeling she was feeling about it was enough to creep her out. Naruto was beginning to get bored now. They should have just let them go into the forest without telling anything. Those who did not know the forest would see that the forest was like with their own eyes. He really did not have to listen to someone explain to him something that he already knew.

''You will find out soon why this place is called the forest of death.'' She said with a smirk. The genins gulped, some shuddered. They did not hope to find out why the place was called a forest of death. Naruto could tell that Anko liked to plant seeds of fear within the hearts of other people.

''Before we start I would like you to sign these papers.'' She said as she held a paper in her hand, the Genin looked at her curiously, ''In this test there will be killings, and I don't want to be responsible for your deaths so you have to sign these wavers.'' The Genin looked at her some thinking they should quit, they were going to do the second test in a place called a forest of death and now there was going to be some killings in the forest, it was too much for some Genins. ''I will explain the test before you sign the wavers. This test will be a survival test; the training ground 44 has locked gates, a river, forest and a tower at the center. From each gate there is about 10km until the tower,'' She paused for a moment to let them digest her words.

''In this training ground you will compete in an all out, no rules scroll battle. Each team will be given one heaven or earth scroll. For a team to pass you have to present both heaven and earth scrolls to the tower in the center of the training ground. There is a time limit; you have only five days to get into the tower with both scrolls to pass the test. If you arrive after 120 hours you will fail the test. There is not quitting once you enter the training ground. You will in there for five days.'' she said to the listening Genin.

''What about food?'' Choji asked while eating snacks. He was worried that he would have to be trapped in the training ground without barbecue and chips.

''The forest is full of food, all you have to do is avoid man-eating bugs, poisonous insects and plants,'' The genin shuddered at the thought of being eaten by bugs. The forest was indeed a scary place, ''The forest will be full of enemies, so if you get to the tower faster with both scrolls you will avoid enemies,'' She paused for a moment before going on ''Now let's get on to who gets disqualified, the first I have already told you, which is not being able to get to the tower with both scrolls and in time,'' She said as the Genin nodded. ''Second is those who lose a teammate or a teammate gets killed. Lastly you must not open the scroll before you reach the tower. As chunin you be expected to courier important documents. This will be a test to your trustworthiness.'' she finished her explanation to the genins.

''Come on now and take the wavers and sign them!'' She said as the genins went over to her and took the wavers to sign. Some were hesitant to do so, but everyone singed them and handed them to Anko. She had given each team their scroll, but did it in a way that no team would know which team held an earth or heaven scroll. This would avoid a team going to a specific team; it would also cut down numbers because a team would take a scroll from another team they have defeated even though it is the same as theirs. She did not tell them that, they did not need to know it. ''Final word of advice, don't get killed!'' She said with a maniacal grin that had the Genin think that she wanted them to kill each other. Each team went away to their assigned gate and got ready for the second test.

The forest of death

Team 7 entered the welcoming mouth of training ground 44. Death and all its friends sang songs that boomed inside their heads. Darkness ate all the light within the forest. One could only imagine the horrors the trees have had to witness within the forest.

The breath within the forest was cold as it invaded Sakura's body causing the girl to shiver. She could only hope that Sasuke felt the same way as she did and give into the temptations that the cold breathe brought forward. She would surely love having to heat her body with Sasuke's; she would surely cherish the moment.

She looked at her teammates and sighed disappointedly. Both her teammates seemed to not feel the cold breath that the forest breathed into her. She was sort of hoping that Sasuke would be feeling it so she could get close to him and feel the warmth of his skin. It was not going to happen though she could only dream. Because her teammates were walking as if the forest was not scary she was forced to banish the coldness that had invaded her body.

As the coldness obeyed her command she felt a bit sad that a chance to get close to Sasuke had just passed away.

The wide eyes of the forest stared at him, trying to intimidate him. He could almost laugh at the pitiful attempt to make him give birth to fear. He had gone through a lot of horrifying things in his 13 years of life, such a thing as a forest that was associated with death did not scare him. Even death itself did not scare him, the only thing he was failing to achieve his dreams.

Naruto looked at his teammates as they slowly walked within the forest. Sasuke seemed fine, but Naruto could see a bit of excitement from the Uchiha. The atmosphere of the forest could make anyone who enjoyed a good challenge feel a ting of excitement invading their bodies. Sakura on the other hand seemed to too sure of herself.

They had yet to make plans on how they should proceed in the forest. Ever since they touched the belly of the forest they had yet to speak. Naruto did not mind the silence he would rather have the silence than to have Sakura spouting nonsense. Sasuke stopped walking getting his teammates to follow his lead.

He seemed to have lost all his excitement and the cold emotionless gaze that seemed to be part of his face had returned from its vacation, ''We should make plans here, before we go any further into the forest.'' he said looking at both his teammates.

''We should stay together as a team and not separate. I can take care of myself, but if I were to separate myself from you and you happen to come across another team Sasuke won't be able to protect himself and you,'' he said looking at Sakura straight in her eyes, ''We should just go ahead straight to the tower. I am sure we will come across a team while we head to the tower.''

Sakura had no objections to what Naruto had said. They would have to be together till they reach the tower. She felt a little sad that Naruto had pointed that she needed to be protected by her teammates she was not that weak.

Sasuke nodded but still, ''What if we reach the tower without coming across another team?'' he asked.

''Then will hunt a team to get what we want, now let us move on!'' Naruto said

His teammates followed him behind. The plan was simple and it would have them get to the tower faster. They were given a maximum of five nights to get to the tower, but one could get to the tower in the second day of the exams. Sasuke wanted to fight someone he had yet to fight anyone since the exams. But this test gave birth to a chance for him to fight someone. He would have to make sure that he did not leave the forest without testing his power against genins from other villages.

The team walked for a few hours. Day was already calling for night to take over its rein. They had to clash with another team. They had been walking on a rather relaxed pace. It was something that was done with the thought of Sakura in mind. The girl had a low stamina, running for an hour and he would have forced them to take a break. It was better to just walk for the day that is tomorrow they would quicken their pace to ensure that by the end of the day they had reached the tower. They could worry about getting the scroll they needed while they made their way to the tower.

Naruto, who was in the lead suddenly stopped and motioned for his teammates to do the same. He looked at his left side there were three dark shadows that had been following them for the past hour. He had sensed them the moment they started to shadow them. He thought they would go away seeing that team 7 had its guard always on. He knew they had been waiting for an opportunity to present itself and they would try them.

''What is it Naruto?'' Sakura asked the blond.

''Some annoyances that won't go away have been following us,'' he said, ''They should come out of the shadows now that they have seen that we have stopped.'' he said his eyes at the girl. Despite the fact that they have only been walking, the girl looked like she would not last 2 minutes in a fight.

''What's the plan?'' Sasuke asked with a smile. They always got together well when they planned against their enemies. Everyone cooperated; even Sakura valued Naruto's opinion. But after the mission was over they would be a completely different team.

''Sakura should stay behind, you and I will remove the annoyances.'' It was not a plan. Naruto never made a plan against someone he knew he could beat without much trouble.

Sasuke nodded Sakura was not a fighter in their team. It was best to let her stay behind so that she does not become a burden while they fight. It would be troublesome to let her fight as they would have to constantly check if she was faring well in her fight. It was something Sasuke would rather not have to do.

They did not wait for too long as three shadows dropped from the trees and stepped closer to them. The one in the middle had a huge grin on his face. Charging by their forehead protectors the three were genin from Amegakure, the Village hidden in Rain.

''I see you have finally noticed us.'' The boy in the middle said, clearly the leader. He looked like he was amused by that fact that they had been noticed.

Sasuke scoffed, ''We knew you were following us all along.'' he said...well he did not know they were following but Naruto did know and that was what mattered the most. Naruto was part of their team so it Naruto knew they all knew about.

The smirks on the Ame genins did not falter. They stayed in place, like the news did not surprise them. ''Oho! It does not matter though, surrender the scroll and hand us the girl.'' The leader of the Ame genins said with a malicious grin looking at Sakura.

Sakura shuddered at the grin. She brought her hands over her chest trying to comfort herself. She was thinking of what would happen to her if she got taken by the Ame genins. They would surely do unspeakable things to her body. A body she so cherished and has been taking care so that Sasuke would do whatever what he pleased with.

Sasuke smirked and got into a stance, ''We will be the ones taking your scroll, and if you want to get to Sakura you have to go through us first.'' He said

Naruto sighed in annoyance; he really hated fighting people he would beat. But since the Ame genins seemed serious about fighting he would play with them.

He did not bother to take his taijutsu stance he walked towards the Ame genins getting Sasuke to follow him, ''Who wants to dance with me first?'' they did not answer quicker than Naruto wanted them to, ''Forget it.'' he said and dashed forward in chunin speeds.

The Ame genins stood in their positions as if earth had brought out her hands and held them firmly. Naruto appeared in front of the genins so did Sasuke. He kicked the leader on the face sending him flying away and turning his attention to the other.

Sasuke stared at his opponent with a smirk. He felt excited about the challenge that had presented itself to him. His opponent charged at him foolishly. The genin tried to make his fist one with his face but Sasuke dodge and landed a kick on the genins right shoulder sending him flying.

He took giant steps towards his opponent. He felt excited; he could try his best to enjoy this fight.

His opponent recovered quickly and took a stance as he got ready for the coming Uchiha.

With Naruto

Naruto looked at the genin in front him with an unreadable expression. The Ame genin did not waste time, he quickly tried to hit Naruto. He threw his right punch at Naruto. Naruto dodged like he was not even trying. The genin threw his right again Naruto dodged easily.

The Ame genin jumped back and stared at Naruto and smacked. He disappeared in a burst of speed that made Naruto raise a brow. But it was not a speed that could trouble him nonetheless. The genin appeared in front of him and tried kicking him on his chest, Naruto bended down to avoid the kick. The Ame genin seemed to have been expecting Naruto to do that. With admirable flexibility he spun around in quick motion while bending down. He attempted a leg sweep on Naruto.

Naruto was still bending but was quick put his down to the ground as support and pushed his lower body upwards dodging the kick. He sensed someone coming from behind him and was quick to get up from his position.

The boy he had kicked first stared at him a glared but it was quickly replaced by a smirk, ''You got lucky with that kick, but I will make you regret it!'' He said confident that he would make Naruto regret.

The boy he had been fighting took the opportunity where his eyes where at the other genin and charged at him. Naruto still had his other sensed working, he spun around with fluidity and grip the boys face. He lifted the boy up in the air.

The leader of the Ame genins rushed at Naruto seeing that he was busy with something. Naruto sensed him and spun around while his right hand was firmly placed on his other opponent's face. He threw the genin at the other making them hit each other. Both grunted as they got up.

With Sasuke

Sasuke's sharingan was active as his opponent rushed at him with surprising speed. He tried to kick Sasuke at his shoulder by Sasuke blocked the attack with both his hands. The Ame genin seeing that Sasuke's both hands were occupied tried to punch Sasuke in the gut with his left hand but Sasuke jumped back to avoid being hit.

Sasuke smirked and rushed at his opponent. His right hand headed straight the genins chest but the Ame genin blocked at attack with both his hands. Sasuke followed up with his left back hitting the genin in the face. He did not let his opponent recover. He kicked the genin hard at his waist sending him flying away.

The Ame genin gritted his teeth as he felt Sasuke's foot crashed into him. The kick hurt really badly. He was not given more time to dwell on his pain as Sasuke appeared before him. Sasuke gutted the genin hard with his fist. The genin clutched his chest in pain. Sasuke did not stop with his assault he let loose of another punch the connected with his opponent's ribs. A hard kick to the temple followed his punch. His opponent was sent crashing to the trees.

The Ame genin tried getting up, was felt winded due the knocks he has received from Sasuke. Sasuke still had his smirk, ''Are you going to give up?''

With his sharingan activated his opponent could not land a hit on him as he would be able to predict the movements. He deactivated it, it was no longer needed.

''Never!'' his opponent yelled as he charged at him with his right hand raised. Sasuke side stepped the attempt to punch him. He kicked the genin on his stomach making him cough out blood. He did not let him fly away as he quickly grabbed his hand and punched him in the chest making the genin cough more blood.

Sasuke slammed his opponent down the ground creating a small crater. His opponent was not yet out cold but looked to be barely conscious. He sighed and gave his opponent a knockout punch. He felt slightly out of breath.

With Naruto

His opponents stared at him for a while before deciding to charge at him with their Kunai's at hand. A Kunai was swung trying to slice his cheeks, Naruto dodged at kunai and brought out his sword. He did not want to get cut when he could have done something to ensure that he did not get cut.

His opponents continued trying to pierce him with their Kunai's while Naruto blocked and dodged their attempts.

He finally got tired of playing and knocked off the genins Kunai from their hands. His Ninjato sliced through one of his opponent's chest. And blood gushed from his wound. The wound was not deep but enough to make him bleed and cause him pain. The genin hissed in pain. Naruto moved closer to him and gripped the boy's neck before slamming him to the ground creating a crater were the genin hit. The power of the slam was enough to knock the genin out cold.

Naruto looked at his other opponent, ''Do you wish to continue dancing?'' He genin shook his head vigorously. Naruto disappeared from view and appeared behind the genin. He hit the genin at the back of his head before he could react knocking him out cold. He sheathed his sword but not before wiping off the blood that had stained it. Not taking care of your weapon will make it dull. He always cleaned it whenever he used it. He was not much of a kenjutsu fighter but a sword would have to do with him until he got used to carrying his Gunbai.

Sakura joined him looking relieved. She did not get to fight and both her teammates had defeated their enemies without difficulty. That pleased her mind, she would have hated if one of her teammates had gotten hurt. She might not like Naruto but at times she thanked Kami that he was on her team without his help at times they would never have completed some of their missions. He had also saved her life more than once, she was thankful for it even though she has never told said thank you for it. She does know that Naruto did not care for her and if they were not teammates he would have let her die whenever her life was in danger. Sasuke did the same a minute later. He searched the genins pockets and found an earth scroll they needed a heaven a scroll. Sasuke grunted he was expecting an earth scroll. He took the scroll and placed it in his pocket. It would prove useful in exchange for a scroll that they want.

Naruto looked at both his teammates and sighed, ''We should camp here for the night. We will move out tomorrow morning.'' He said. They could not really travel for the night. Whenever it was night the forest became a twin to darkness even when there was a full moon. It was a better choice to camp for the night.

Sakura looked at him, ''Where are we going to sleep? We have no water to bath and no food to eat!'' she said in a loud voice. She could not believe that Naruto would suggest that they sleep in the middle of nowhere without shelter. They had not even eaten anything and she was a girl she could not go to sleep without taking a bath.

Naruto looked at the girl as if she was crazy. 'How can she think of bathing while they are stuck in a forest' Naruto thought. He looked away from the girl, he had no problems he could stay u all night or spend the whole week without sleeping. As long as they would reach the tower tomorrow he had no problems with starving himself either. But his teammates were not the same as him that much he understood. He had to think of a better way to get his teammates food or he would have to carry them to the tower.

''Stay here, I will be back in 20 minutes or less with food.'' He said after a long pause

''Wasn't you the one who said we should not separate?'' Sakura asked

Naruto ignored her and blurred out of his teammates view. If they did not separate he would have been forced to carry them tomorrow because they would be hungry and tired. He had no intentions of doing something like that. Getting them food so that they could walk themselves was the best thing he could do. Sasuke could probably walk even if he was hungry, but would not be in a condition to fight, it was not that he would have problems fighting a team of genins.

''Were do you think he went Sasuke?'' Sakura asked looking at her precious Uchiha.

Sasuke just shrugged and walked away from Sakura. He walked towards a tree prompting Sakura to follow him. Sakura sat beside a tree next to Sasuke. She had never thought she would one day be stuck in a forest with Sasuke like she was at the moment. Never in her wildest imaginations had she thought this moment would occur. 'If Sasuke-kun was not so shy who knows what we would have been doing' she thought eyeing Sasuke with her cheeks giving birth to a blush.

''Sasuke-kun, do you want to go out on a date after we complete this test?'' Sakura asked, she had always been the one to take the initiative and asked Sasuke out.

''No!'' Sasuke replied coldly. The girl annoyed him he had no intentions of going out on a date with her. He only cared about getting strong at the moment.

Sakura felt as though her heart was just chewed and spat out. Sasuke always rejected her attempts to get him to go on a date with her. He had always shut the door at her face. Her mind could not assay why Sasuke had found her annoying. She had thought it was because her beauty did not attract his eyes. She had always looked at her twin who resided in her mirror to see if she looked good. And each time she saw her twin she thought she looked beautiful. But Sasuke's eyes seemed to have something that shadowed her beauty from him.

She smiled sadly and looked down at her feet. She loved Sasuke and would never stop trying to win his affection.

17 minutes later Naruto walked towards teammates carrying a small bag. He went over to them and sat down. He opened the bag and withdrew two scrolls. He threw one at Sasuke who caught it.

''What is it?''

''Storage seal, you do know how to use it right?''

Sasuke felt offended by Naruto's question. How could he an Uchiha not know how to use a simple storage seal? Luckily Sakura spoke for him, ''Of course he knows how to use it!''

Naruto ignored her and continued looking at Sasuke. Sasuke opened the scroll and a seal appeared on it. He channeled chakra into the seal. A puff of smoke gave birth to two tents. He smiled along with Sakura. Sakura was quick to point out something, ''There are only two tents!''

The logical solution would be that Sasuke share a tent with Naruto since both were boys. But Sakura would not mind having to share a tent with Sasuke. In fact if she was not shy to say it she would have suggested it.

''You two will use the tents I will keep watch while you sleep.'' Naruto said.

Sakura had no complains with what Naruto had just said. But Sasuke did, ''Naruto why don't you sleep in the tent. I will take the first watch and wake you up after sometime.'' he suggested.

Naruto just shrugged. If Sasuke wanted to keep watch he could keep watch. But that did not mean he was going to sleep in the tent. He opened his scroll it was the same as Sasuke's. He channeled chakra into the seal and his puff of smoke gave birth to three food containers and three bottles of water.

Sakura's stomach growled as he eyes looked at the food. She had only eaten in the morning. She did not wait for Naruto to give her the food. She crawled over to a container and took it. She retreated to her spot and began to eat the fish and bread Naruto had brought. She ate with eating manners, despite her hunger she refused to eat like a pig in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke took his container and ate his food peacefully. Naruto did the same. He was glad that he had Zetsu to count on.

They stayed in silence as night reined over earth. Sakura was the first to sleep. With all the walking the whole day she was tired and needed to sleep to replenish her stamina. Naruto stayed up with Sasuke. It was before midnight that Sasuke became sleepy. The tent was singing soothing songs to him that had him sleepy. He tried to resist but his will was not strong enough.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, ''Wake me up in three hours so I can take the watch and you can sleep.'' he said before crawling into his tent.

Morning

Naruto woke up his teammates as it was time to move on towards the tower. They could not waste any more time sleeping. They had already wasted enough time already.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, ''Why didn't you wake me up?''

''Did I tell you I would wake you up?'' Naruto replied with a question earning him a small glare from Sasuke. They were about to hit the road when Sakura spoke.

''Hey guys what about the tents, aren't we going to need them if we happen not to get to the tower before the end of the day?''

"We will make it." Naruto said looked at the tents and at Sasuke, "Burn them with a fire jutsu.''

Sasuke though did not like taking orders from Naruto he nodded and did a fire jutsu burning the tents. They hopped onto the trees and made their way to the tower.

A few hours later

They had been travelling for 3 hours. It was not nonstop they had to take a few breaks to allow Sakura to regain her strength. Had it not been for the girl they would have covered a lot of ground by now. It annoyed both Naruto and Sasuke and the number of breaks they had to take because Sakura always got tired after running for a few minutes. Sakura was by no means a stamina freak like Naruto. Naruto had more stamina than Kakashi so she could not compare herself with him. She had only seen him slightly winded once. But even when he was winded he would still push further like he was not tired. She did not understand where he got his energy from. He always seems to have more energy than anyone. Even at the academy he always seemed energetic.

Naruto stopped suddenly causing his teammates to do the same, ''Someone strong is following us.'' After those words left Naruto mouths gusts of winds hit the genins sending them flying. Even Naruto was caught; he had not been fast enough to react after sensing the chakra build up.

The gusts of wind were strong but other than sending team 7 crashing towards the trees there was no injuries suffered.

A Nin wearing a Kusagakure forehead protector appeared in front of the genin. The Kusa-nin was a woman. She unleashed her murderous killing intent. She enjoyed the look of fear her killing intent brought to her preys. She could never pass a chance to plant a seed of fear in her preys it was always fun watching them cower in fear, it soothed her soul.

The genins froze at their places. The killing intent had put them under an illusion. They watched themselves being killed in any ways. It was horrifying watching your own death.

None was affected more than Sakura. The girl was on her knees shuddering with eyes wide. The experience she was having now was far worse than what she had experienced at the wave mission when Zabuza had unleashed his killing intent. It was unbearable, she wished nothing more than death to make her one with it.

Sasuke had thought it was genjutsu at first when he was seeing his death. But he had come to a realization that it was not illusion, it was just the effects of a killing intent by the Kusa-nin. His body failed to obey any command his mind. His mind was screaming for his legs to carry him and run away. But all it got was silence from the feet. The pressure of the killing intent was so much that he too was forced into his knees. But he was not shuddering like Sakura. This time he could not blame the girl for shuddering in fear. Even he was doing his best to keep fluids from escaping his body.

Naruto had experienced such level of killing intent. He had been exposed to his grandfather's intent so much that he had become resilient to fall for the horrors a strong killing intent brought. But it did not make him invincible to killing intents, not it allowed him to shake off the effects of a killing intent. But judging by the pressure of the killing intent, he could tell who ever the person was in front of them was strong, so strong that he knew he could not defeat.

After sweating a few bullets he shrugged off the killing intent and looked at the Kusa-nin with an unreadable expression. The Kusa-nin seemed amuse by seeing Naruto shake off her killing intent. She could do worse than she was doing at the moment. But she chose not to. Her tongue escaped from her mouth and extended into a length that no human tongue should. The tongue kissed the frames of her mouth as she got ready to play with her preys.

The Kusa-nin dashed forward at Sasuke who was still suffering from the pressure of the killing intent. To him it felt like earth had brought out her hands and gripped him tightly. Upon seeing the Kusa-nin charging at him, Sasuke took out a Kunai stabbing himself to wear off the killing intent. His plan worked as he recovered and jumped away in time to avoid being hit by the Kusa-nin. He jumped on a tree branch and stared back at the Kusa-nin.

Naruto found himself staring at yellow silted eyes of a large snake. The snake could chew him to bits without breaking a sweat. Its eyes shined with a glint of malice as its fangs extended from its mouth. The snake rushed at him at fast speeds. His attention was no taken away from the Kusa-nin and Sasuke. He jumped up to avoid the snake's mouth. The snake followed him, its head crashed into a tree he was on breaking it.

Naruto wondered what a snake was doing here. Of all the times it just chose to attack him while his team was being attack at the same time. It was too much of a coincident. He sheathed his Ninjato and rushed at the snake.

Naruto jumped up onto the snakes head. The snake tried shaking him off its head but Naruto held firmly. He channeled wind chakra to his blade and stabbed the snake's head. The snake hissed and shook violently. Naruto jumped off the snake and landed on the ground.

He really should not be dragged into a fight with a snake. The snake rushed at him in fast speeds. Naruto rushed at it too. He threw his wind enhanced blade straight into the snake's right eye piercing it. The snake hissed in pain. Naruto rushed at the snake and jumped onto its head again. He took withdrew his blade from the snake's eye. He punched the snake on its head. But his attempt did not do much damage to the snake. He jumped away from the snake.

The snake opened its mouth and rushed at Naruto. Its fangs seemed to be attracted to his flash as the fangs got close to him looking at be one with him. Naruto looked at welcoming mouth of the snake and jumped away. The snake's missed him and kissed the welcoming ground.

Naruto stretched out his senses finding that the Kusa-nin was still fighting with Sasuke and there was no other person other than Sakura near the place. He looked into the snake's eyes and activated his sharingan. He refused to fight a snake further. His sharingan morphed into his six-bladed Mangekyou. Naruto closed his right eye and concentrated his left eye on the snake.

**''Amaterasu''**

He muttered as black flames engulfed the snake. The hissed in pain inflicted on it by the black flames. The snake began to roll uncontrollably on the ground while the black flames ate it.

Naruto looked away from the snake and wiped off the blood leaking from his left eye. He was glad that for the exams he had no shadows following him. He blurred away but not before deactivating his sharingan.

Had he stayed a bit longer he would have seen the snake burst into a puff of smoke.

With Sasuke

Sasuke stared at the Kusa-nin and then at Sakura. She seemed to have been doing fine. He saw a snake chase after Naruto. He did not have to worry about Naruto for he knew that he could take care of himself. Right now he needed to worry about himself. His opponent was strong he could feel that.

The Kusa-nin chuckled looking at her prey. Sasuke could see the Kusa-nin's eyes were the eyes of a predator. He was the prey and the predator was staring at him in its glory. ''Come at me with all you got Sasuke-kun!'' the Kusa-nin spoke with a grin.

Sasuke did not want to be told twice. He charged at the Kusa-nin. The Kusa-nin blocked a kick that was directed to her temple by Sasuke. Sasuke tried to kick the Kusa-nin again but his attempt was blocked again. Sasuke jumped back from the predator and activated his sharingan.

The Kusa-nin seemed to like seeing the sharingan being activated. 'Yes, that's it Sasuke-kun show me what you can do' she thought as she continued to chuckle mirthlessly unnerving Sasuke. He dashed forward at her and attempted to punch her on the face. But the Kusa-nin leaned back to avoid his attack. Sasuke leaned forward and tried another punch at the gut but the Kusa-nin jumped to avoid being hit. Sasuke dashed forward not giving his opponent rest. He jumped up into the air and attempted to punch the Kusa-nin while earth pulled him down. The Kusa-nin brought out both her hands and blocked Sasuke's attempt.

She tried punching Sasuke on his chest but Sasuke was able to see the attack thanks to his sharingan. He jumped back to avoid being hit. The Kusa-nin rushed at Sasuke and tried kicking him but Sasuke blocked the kick with his knee. Sasuke's right fist flew into the Kusa-nins face, but she bended down to avoid the attack. Sasuke saw an opening and got down attempting a leg sweep. But the Kusa-nin jumped returning the favor with a kick to the face. He was able to see the kick coming but was not able to neither dodge nor block the attack. It felt like he was being hit twice.

Sasuke hit a tree with a grunt that followed after the impact.

''Is this all you can do Sasuke-kun, even you your sharingan?'' The Kusa-nin said while chuckling earning a glare from Sasuke. He was trying to understand just who the person was. He could not land a hit on the person.

The Kusa-nin did not wait for Sasuke to clear his thoughts. He dashed forward to the Uchiha. Sasuke was forced to dodge a power punch that shattered the tree branch he was standing at. The Kusa-nin charged at Sasuke again. They engaged in a taijutsu fight.

Sasuke smirked as he got a hit at the Kusa-nin face. He did not stop there he added a kick to the chest that sent the Kusa-nin flying. He continued smirking thinking that it was not hopeless as he had thought at first.

Naruto had gotten back a few moments earlier and was watching the fight with interest. The Kusa-nin seemed to have his eyes only on Sasuke because he had yet to make a move on Sakura who had just been watching the fight with worry all over her face.

Sasuke did hand seals for his favorite jutsu. **'Fire release: great fireball'** he muttered as the fireball sped at the Kusa-nin. His smirked widened when he saw his jutsu hit the Kusa-nin. He ended his Jutsu and saw the Kusa-nin standing there with his devilish grin placed on as if nothing had happened. His eyes widened in disbelieve. It should not have been possible for someone to take on the jutsu and still stand like nothing had happened. He watched as the Kusa-nin's skin began to peel off revealing a more pale skin.

The Kusa-nin blurred out of view and appeared behind Sasuke. Sasuke was kicked hard on his back and sent crashing towards a tree.

''Ahhhh!'' grunted as he hit the tree. He got panting and looked back at the Kusa-nin.

The Kusa-nin looked at Sasuke with calculating eyes. Sasuke was indeed a skilled young boy. She had proven it and her eyes liked what he had witnessed from Sasuke.

Naruto took the time to announce his presence before Sasuke got killed. But he felt that the Kusa-nin was just playing with Sasuke. He felt that if the Kusa-nin wanted to kill Sasuke she would have done it already. She had many opportunities to inflict serious damage to Sasuke but did not. It was making him answer a lot of questions. First it was the snake now it was this. There was only question that he felt worthy of being asked at the moment. His eyes travelled towards the Kusa-nin, "Who are you?"

**This is the longest chapter I have ever written. The next chapter should be updated in a week or so. I hope you found the chapter worth reading. **

**Title of the chapter is referenced on Naruto's view of the chunin exams. **

**I thank everyone who reviewed on the story. Your reviews inspire me to continue working on the story.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the long wait, I was busy playing FIFA, seriously…nah I'm just kidding. **

**I must warn you that this chapter might have a lot of grammar and spelling errors. I did correct where I could but I don't all the mistakes were corrected. And also the chapter is just as long as the previous one, it has 17k words.**

**This chapter will disappoint many who were expecting Naruto to….Maybe its best if you just read it. **

**Chapt****er Five: The Three Sets**

**Set one**

Naruto stood still staring at the Kusa-nin waiting for an answer. He was truly curious as to who the person was. It was not every day that one found such a strong person in the chunin exams. With the power the Kusa-nin had he should not have been a genin. And there was also the person's clear interest in Sasuke Uchiha. The Kusa-nin was not the first person to show interest in Sasuke, there was also Kabuto who showed interest in Sasuke at the first part of the exams.

"I'm the one who should be asking the questions Naruto-kun." The Kusa-nin replied sounding amused by the question.

Naruto just stood there staring at the Kusa-nin before sighing. He was not going to get the answer he had requested. By the looks of things the Kusa-nin just wanted to play around with them. He could always join and have some fun too.

Naruto charged at the Kusa-nin engaging the Kusa-nin in a taijutsu battle. He tried punching the Kusa-nin in the face, but she jumped back to avoid Naruto's punch. Naruto followed her and tried kicking as a follow up to his dodged punch. The Kusa-nin caught his attack with little effort. Naruto was expecting something like this, so in quick movement his fist connected with the Kusa-nin's face sending her flying away from him.

Naruto did not stop with his attacks he dashed toward the Kusa-nin in jonin speeds. She was worthy of it. Naruto appeared in front of the Kusa-nin and pummeled her to the ground with both his hands. She was sent crashing down and created a crater upon impact.

Naruto jumped unto a tree branch and looked at the Kusa-nin. She got up from the crater and looked at Naruto with a malicious smile, "So the rumors I have heard about you are true eh Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked at the woman carefully. She did not seem to have taken any damage or even bothered by his attacks at all. She looked to have just brushed them off nothing it was nothing. He had thought it would cause a bit of damage even if it was little.

The Kusa-nin charged at Naruto and tried punching him at his chest but Naruto blocked her blow with both his hands. She tried kicking him with her right foot. Naruto jumped back to avoid the effort to kick him. The moment he landed on the ground she was right in front him. She landed a powerful kick on his chest sending him crashing towards the trees. Naruto grunted as he hit a tree hard. The Kusa-nin appeared in front of him again. "You are better than Sasuke-kun but I have no interest in you, at the moment." The Kusa-nin said punching Naruto hard in the stomach. Naruto grunted he felt the punch connect with his gut. He coughed up a bit of liquid and fell on his knees while clutching his stomach in pain.

The Kusa-nin turned her back on him and looked back at Sasuke. Sasuke stood there watching with wide eyes. He had never seen anyone man handle Naruto. Whenever he had seen Naruto fight with an enemy he had always won each time. He had never been beaten with ease, like he was some kind of weak genin. He was starting to fear for his life now. If the Kusa-nin could beat Naruto the way she did what could he do to her? Naruto had always been superior to him, so could he fight someone who defeated Naruto with ease. Despite him hating that fact he knew that Naruto was superior to him.

The Kusa-nin turned to Naruto again and kicked him hard on the temple sending him flying away. She looked back at Sasuke again.

"No Sasuke-kun shall we continue where were?" The Kusa-nin said looking at Sasuke with a wide grin that sent chills to Sasuke's spine.

Sasuke did not know what to do at that moment. He was overcome with fear. His legs failed to respond to the commands he gave to it. The Kusa-nin rushed at Sasuke slamming her foot in his gut. Sasuke was sent flying. He held his stomach while he panted. The Kusa-nin was in front of him again. Sasuke reacted quicker by pulling out a Kunai from his pouch and stabbed the Kusa-nin on her neck. But the Kusa-nin crumbled down into dust making Sasuke widen his eyes. He did not even see he had hit a clone even with his sharingan. His time to be shocked was cut soon as the Kusa-nin appeared behind him and kicked him sending him flying away.

Sasuke hit a tree and fell down to the ground. He got up panting and tried looking for the Kusa-nin. "Are you looking for me Sasuke-kun?" The Kusa-nin called out in mirth. Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration because he was unable to find the Kusa-nin anywhere despite hearing her voice. He was also getting beat up, something that he hated with all his Uchiha pride.

Naruto looked from the tree as he had been recovering from after the last Kusa-nin's attack that had fallen at him. He replaced himself with a clone and hid somewhere he could not be seen. He did it in a way that no one would see. The clone remained on the tree acting beat up while he hid. He could see where the Kusa-nin was hiding but she could not see or sense him. He had hid himself in the shadows. He activated his sharingan. He had no choice but to do this. His sharingan morphed into the Mangekyou. He concentrated on the Kusa-nin, having finally locked at the target. He muttered, **"Amaterasu**".

The black flames engulfed the Kusa-nin. She was not able to sense the built up chakra in his left eye to dodge the attack. As the black flames began to eat her body she fell down from the tree she was concealing her position at. She fell to the ground while she screamed in pain. The black flames burned hotter than any flames in existence and there was no way to extinguish them. Once one was caught in them they were surely going to die, unless the flames were put off by the one who ignited them.

She stopped rolling on the ground and her mouth opened. Another body came from the mouth looking perfectly fine. But the body was different from the Kusa-nin. Naruto deactivated his sharingan and dispelled his clone. If what he was seeing had shocked him he hid it well. He walked up to the clearing and looked at the black haired male with a pace skin and yellow eyes, "Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru looked at Naruto with his malicious grin firmly in place. The jutsu that had hit him was defiantly not an ordinary jutsu. Had it not been for his ability to shed his skin he would have been surely burned to dust by the black flames. He would never want to get hit by the jutsu any time soon. The flames ate his body instead of just burning. A normal fire jutsu would have just given him third degree burns. It made him curious. If he was not mistaken the black flamed jutsu could only be used by an Uchiha with a Mangekyou sharingan. He had seen researched everything there was about the sharingan. And thus knew about the jutsu. He looked at Naruto with calculating eyes. It was not Sasuke who had used the jutsu; Sasuke had yet to awaken his Mangekyou. He did not sense any other presence close by; it only meant that it had to be Naruto who did the jutsu. But that only begged a question.

How?

Naruto was not an Uchiha, and did not have the sharingan. The only 'special' thing about Naruto was that he was a jinchuriku nothing more. So he could not understand how Naruto was able to do the **Amaterasu**. On the outside he may look like he was enjoying something, but inside his head questions had been triggered and he was unable to find the answers. The only way to get answers was to do it the easy way.

''An interesting jutsu Naruto-kun, can you tell me how you did it. As far as I know only a person with the Mangekyou sharingan can summon black flames.''

Naruto was not going to answer the question. The answer he would give Orochimaru would make Orochimaru curious. He was not going make Orochimaru even more curious about him. Doing something like that would be dangerous for his secrets. As far as he knew Orochimaru was a very curious person and had an obsessesin with wanting to know all the secrets of the world. So making Orochimaru curious would only make the snake sennin come after him with his snakes searching for Intel on him. He had already made the snake curious by using Amaterasu. He had been hoping it would end the battle. But seeing Orochimaru shed his skin made him curse.

''I should have noticed sooner that it was you. It was not a coincident that a snake attacked me just after you made your presence known, they were your summons,'' Naruto said, ''What is an S-rank criminal doing in the chunin exams?'' he asked brushing off Orochimaru's curiosity about his jutsu.

Sakura was now shuddering. She heard Naruto say Orochimaru but she did not recognize the name at first but when he said S-rank criminal she recognized him. He was one of the three legendary ninja's. There was no way they were going to make it out alive with their enemy was a sennin. Hope had abandoned her with the thought that her enemy was a sennin. They were a couple of rookies and no match for a Sennin. She did not even feel safe knowing that Sasuke and Naruto were also there. If Naruto did not stand a chance against the sennin there was no way Sasuke could stand a chance.

Naruto saw Orochimaru's grin falter for a second before it appeared again. Orochimaru was dissatisfied with Naruto's response. He had thought the blond would be kind enough to answer his question but it did not seem that his questions were going to be answered. But the fact that Naruto avoided answering his question made him even more curious.

''You are proving to be an interesting genin, Naruto-kun. But as I have said before I you are not what I am interested in.'' Orochimaru said with a dark chuckle while he eyed Sasuke with calculating eyes.

Naruto never took his eyes off Orochimaru, ''Uchiha Sasuke,'' Naruto said aloud what Orochimaru was interested in, ''What could you a sennin want from Sasuke? His hatred, Sharingan, skills, what is it that you find interesting in Sasuke?'' Naruto asked trying to find why Orochimaru would risk coming to Konoha because of Sasuke.

Orochimaru seemed amused by Naruto's questions. He did not respond for a moment though, he narrowed his eyes at Sasuke and looked back at Naruto. He chuckled evilly. He rushed at Naruto in great speeds. Naruto saw the sennin coming and jumped onto a tree branch.

Naruto knew he could not defeat Orochimaru even at his full power. Fighting a sennin was out of his league. He could fight a few jonins but a sennin was just too much for him at his current level of strength. It just meant he had to do more training till he surpassed all the sennin's. Given that he could not defeat Orochimaru, he was not even afraid of dying. He knew that Orochimaru did not want them dead. He wanted them to live. If he wanted them dead he would have already killed Sakura by now or even Sasuke.

Orochimaru followed Naruto onto the trees, but this time a little faster than before. He appeared in front of Naruto and tried to level him with an upper cut. Naruto jumped back to avoid being hit. He was just fast enough to react had he not been able to dodge the punch it would have done him no good. The wind the breezed hit his face made him realize that Orochimaru had put a lot of power behind the punch. He sensed that Orochimaru was still holding back his speed. But the power of the punch was strong enough to knock any genin out cold.

While Naruto was still jumping away Orochimaru appeared in front of Naruto, ''Had it not been Sasuke, I would be certainly interested in you, but don't worry I will never forget this encounter.'' Orochimaru whispered to Naruto.

He tried kicking Naruto at his waist. But Naruto lifted up his knee and blocked the kick. Orochimaru brought out his left leg and tried to kick Naruto but Naruto blocked the blow, again with his knee. Naruto wanted his hands to be free so that he would able to deal with what Orochimaru might try to deal him with. Orochimaru brought his right fist and tried to punch Naruto in the face. But Naruto blocked the attack. Orochimaru was not surprised he was anticipating the block from Naruto. He moved quickly and kneed Naruto on his gut. Naruto hissed while clutching his stomach. Orochimaru kicked harder than he had anticipated.

Orochimaru punched Naruto in the face and spun around for a roundhouse high kick. He kicked Naruto at the temple sending the blond crashing towards the trees. He grinned he had put a lot of power behind the kick. He wanted to get out of the forest before ANBU sensed him within the forest. It would get messy if ANBU where to come at the forest.

Orochimaru was not given time to recover from his one sided battle with Naruto as Sasuke came flying towards him. He sensed the boy chagrin at him and spun around to face the boy. Sasuke tried punching the Sennin in the face but Orochimaru caught Sasuke's hand. He held it tightly and began to squeeze it making Sasuke grunt. Orochimaru looked at Sasuke's eyes with a malicious grin earning a slight shiver from Sasuke. Orochimaru kneed Sasuke on the gut while holding his arm. It was just more pain to Sasuke, and he was starting to think that there was nothing he could do about it. Orochimaru gripped Sasuke's face and sent him crashing towards the trees.

He charged at the Uchiha in jonin speeds but was stopped on his tracks by a kick to the face that sent him flying backwards. There only reason he was hit was because he had thought Naruto would not be able to wake up any time soon after the beating he had given to the blond. Naruto charged at Orochimaru again in great speeds. He was welcomed by a knee on his gut.

''You did good Naruto-kun, catching me off guard like that!'' Orochimaru said with a low chuckle.

He grabbed Naruto's face and smashed the blond down to the ground. The impact formed a crater on the ground. Orochimaru crashed his foot onto Naruto's chest while the blond was still lying down in the crater. Naruto coughed up blood because of the hit. He could feel it he was losing a lot of his energy. It was not good for him to lose his strength the way he was at the moment due to the beating he was receiving from Orochimaru.

Orochimaru grabbed Naruto by his foot and swung him around twice before sending him crashing towards the trees. He did not stop there he rushed at Naruto again and grabbed him by the neck. He could almost lick the blood that was dripping from the blonds' mouth. But he had other businesses to attend to. Naruto was having hard time breathing because his body was worn out and Orochimaru's hand that was on his neck was making it difficult for him to breath. He struggled to get out of Orochimaru's grin but to no avail. Orochimaru slammed Naruto to the ground again.

''Stay down Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun is waiting for me.'' Orochimaru said.

'It's hopeless, I'm going to die!' Sasuke thought to himself with wide eyes. He had just seen how Naruto was defeated like he was nothing. He knew that if Naruto had been beaten off that easily there was no way he would have a chance against the enemy. The man was a sennin after all. There was really no hope of a genin winning a fight against a sennin.

Orochimaru appeared a good distance away from Sasuke. Sasuke was leaning against a tree breathing rather heavily. He was tired from all the fighting he had to do since the sennin had ambushed them. He watched as Orochimaru made his way slowly at him. Fear began to grip him tightly at each step Orochimaru took towards him. He felt like the fear was draining him of the little energy he had in reserve. The fear rendered him immobile; it brought a cold to his body making him shudder. Sasuke's body began to tremble uncontrollably as Orochimaru drew closer to him. He was frightened; frightened that he was going to die, death without even getting his revenge.

Orochimaru enjoyed watching the terror stricken Uchiha. He loved seeing his prey's cowering in fear.

''S-stay back, d-don't come any closer!'' Sasuke stuttered out seeing Orochimaru making his way to him.

Orochimaru did not stop; he slowly made his way over to Sasuke with calculating eyes, ''Do you want power Sasuke-kun?'' Orochimaru asked with a wide grin. Sasuke lost his fear and took a confused look on his face. He wanted power what confused him was why Orochimaru would ask him the kind of question. Orochimaru stopped in front of Sasuke and spoke again, ''I know you want power to kill Itachi, Sasuke-kun and I can give you that power.''

Sasuke's eyes burned with hatred the moment Itachi's name was registered to his mind. He hated nothing and no one more than Itachi. Orochimaru's widened upon seeing the hatred within Sasuke's eyes.

His neck extended in lengths that no human neck should extend. Two large fangs grew from his mouth as his head travelled towards Sasuke's neck. Sasuke just froze not knowing what to do. Orochimaru's fangs became one with Sasuke's neck before Orochimaru retrieved his head. Sasuke let out a pained scream before falling down.

''SASUKE-KUN!'' Sakura yelled out while rushing at the fallen form of Sasuke. She had heard his pained scream, it was not healthy. She ran to see if he was okay.

Orochimaru looked at Sakura with a wide grin. He chuckled darkly; he had achieved what he had come for and more. It was just a matter of time before Sasuke came to him looking for power.

''What did you do to Sasuke-kun?'' Sakura demanded forgetting that the person in her front was a sennin and could kill her in a second. She was just too angry that he had hurt Sasuke.

Orochimaru was amused by the girl's bravery, ''I gave him a gift that will help him avenge his clan.'' Orochimaru replied as he sank into the ground but not before eyeing where Naruto was lying.

Sakura got down to her knees beside Sasuke. She would deal with what Orochimaru had said later but right now Sasuke's health was her main priority, ''Sasuke-kun'' she muttered softly. He was out cold a world of darkness had consumed him. He could not hear any word she could say to him that made her sad. She wanted to cry but now was not the time for that. She had to be strong for Sasuke. Sasuke had always protected her but now it was her time to protect him.

With Naruto

Naruto brought out both his hands to his face. He stared at them for a moment. Today he had been embarrassed. No one had beaten him like Orochimaru had done. A sennin was truly strong but to be thrown around like a ragged doll was just too damning for his pride. Orochimaru had toyed with him, shown him the difference between their powers. It made him feel weak. He hated feeling weak.

''To think I would get beaten like this despite all the training I did.'' Naruto thought aloud. Even though he was still hiding some of his power it did not change the fact that he was beaten. Taijutsu had been what he trained the most while he was training with his grandfather.

''I wonder what you would say seeing me like this, Madara.'' He thought aloud again. His grandfather would surely not have been pleased with his performance despite not going all out. It would not have made much of a difference. Orochimaru was just stronger than he was. When he thought of going all out, Madara had told him that he never went all out unless he was fighting against Hashirama. Madara was strong but at the moment he was not. This experience only meant he had to train even harder than he had been. For him to surpass his grandfather he had to focus on training than he had been after he became a genin.

Naruto shook his head and got up. His body was beat, but he could last for a few more hours. He dusted himself up and wiped the blood off his mouth. He walked over to his teammates.

Naruto looked over at his teammates. Sakura was kneeling beside Sasuke who looked like he was unconscious. He walked over to them and inspected Sasuke. Sasuke did not have much damage to his body unlike him. There was a strange seal on his neck. He figured it must have been Orochimaru's cursed seal of heaven. With Sasuke unconscious he would have to be carried if they are to get to the tower before night takes its shift.

Sakura looked at Naruto. She did not know what to say to him after watching him get beat up. His clothes where torn up but he looked fine for someone who had just went through a rough beating.

Naruto picked up Sasuke and placed him on his shoulder. He looked at Sakura, ''let's head straight to the tower. I don't want to spend another night in this forest.'' he said.

Sakura nodded she too did not want to spend another night in the forest. And going to the tower now was a good thing since they would take Sasuke to a medic. She felt his body heating up. If he was sick they needed to take him to a medic for treatment. They also did not know what Orochimaru had done to Sasuke. So getting to the tower they would surely meet someone who would tell them what had been done to Sasuke.

A few hours later

It was already past noon, Naruto and Sakura had been running at fast speeds. It was most surprising that Sakura was keeping up with Naruto without complaining about being tired. Sakura understood that it was not the time for her to be lazy, but a time for her to endure everything and keep on going till they reached the tower. They had only taken two breaks since they continued on with their journey to their tower after the encounter with Orochimaru.

Nothing interesting had happened in their way. They had just been travelling in comfortable silence. No one was saying a word to the other. Naruto had a lot in his mind and would rather be quiet than having to deal with Sakura. Sakura on the other hand was worried about Sasuke and did not know how she could start a conversation with Naruto without Sasuke being active. So she decided to enjoy the silence as much as she could. While they were running she kept glancing at Naruto. He did not look the same after the encounter with Orochimaru. In fact he looked worn out. She had never seen him worn out before since the formation of team 7. But she was glad nonetheless that he was carrying Sasuke to the tower.

They had yet to meet another team while on their way to the tower. It was becoming a troubling fact to Sakura since they would fail if they did not get the scroll they needed. But at the moment while looking at Sasuke whose temperature seemed to be rising up she thought the most important thing was getting Sasuke to safety.

Naruto suddenly fell down on his knees while he was running. Sasuke was still on his shoulder. His body was in pain he did not understand what could have been causing to feel the way it was. During the encounter with Orochimaru he did not receive blows that could cause his body to experience the pain he was currently feeling.

Sakura was alarmed when she saw Naruto fall to his knees. She hurried close to him, ''Are you alright Naruto?'' She asked sounding concerned. With the look on her face it was obvious that her question did not betray what she truly felt. Naruto looked at the girl for a second. Never had she asked him the kind of question before. He thought it was because he had never been in pain in her presence before.

He gathered his strength and got up while still caring Sasuke on his shoulder, ''I'm fine,'' he said, ''We will take a break not far from here. There should be a stream just ahead.''

Sakura nodded. She was getting hungry she had not eaten anything since morning and all the travelling she had been doing was making her hungry. At the stream she would freshen up a bit and get some fish to eat.

About an hour later

Team 7 had reached the stream. Naruto had placed Sasuke under a tree allowing Sakura to tend to him. He had yet to wake up from the encounter with Orochimaru. His heat was still rising. Naruto could not tell what was going on with Sasuke's body. But he was certain that his body was heating because of the curse mark Orochimaru had placed on him. He did not understand what the cursed seal did to a person's body as he had no depth knowledge about the seal.

Naruto and Sakura were currently eating some fish they had caught. They were eating in silence. Sakura seemed to have something to say but had not courage to do so. Finally she brought her courage, ''Naruto what is that weird mark on Sasuke-kun's neck?''

Naruto responded without even looking up to the girl, ''It's a cursed seal.''

Sakura looked confused she had never heard anything about a cursed seal, ''What is a cursed seal?''

Naruto looked at her and replied, ''It's a seal created by Orochimaru that gives the wielder power.'' The look Naruto had given Sakura was a one that told the girl to ask no more questions. Naruto got up and turned to the stream, ''You should rest, we will move again within a hour.'' he said making his way to the stream.

He had already cleaned himself up while the fish was cooking. What he needed now before they continued on to the tower was to relax his body. The pain had left him but not entirely. Some parts of his body still hurt. He was troubled by the realization that he had lost his Ninjato at the place they had encountered Orochimaru. He had cursed upon realizing that he did not have it with him when he was cleaning himself up. It did not cost him much but having to lose something belonging to him was not something he tolerated or liked. He had lost his sword because of Orochimaru.

It served as another reason for him not to like the snake sennin.

It did not take long before the relaxation time was disturbed by a team of genins from Takigakure. There were three males, each of the same height. They did not look strong. They were weak, a fact that annoyed Naruto. He was in no mood to deal with weak genins at the moment. Dealing with weak ninja's was an annoyance to him that he would rather avoid. Fighting weak ninja's never challenged him. A fight without being challenged bored him.

Naruto might have been just annoyed seeing the genins. But Sakura was on another level of reaction upon seeing the arrival of the Taki genins. She did not know what she was going to do since she was not sure if Naruto could fight because he did not look to be well and Sasuke was still out cold.

''Give us the scroll and we won't hurt you!'' one of the genins said aloud.

Naruto got up and walked towards the genins. He stopped midway before he reached them, ''No!'' he said, ''But however I will request that you go away and leave your scroll behind. If you refuse I will show you just how much of annoyances you are.'' he said in a tone dripping with danger.

The danger did not seem to reach the Taki genins, ''There are three of us, one of your teammates is unconscious,'' one said pointing at Sasuke, ''And the other is a girl who looks really weak. Do you really think you can take us on?''

Naruto said nothing for a moment. Numbers did not faze him. The genins were nothing but annoyances that were making his bad day even worse than it already was, ''Fools'' he said more to himself but the Takigakure genins heard him.

''Who are you cal...'' one of the Genins wanted to retort but he never finished his sentence as Naruto's powerful fist crashed into his gut. The genin dripped some fluids from his mouth because of the impact of the punch and dropped to his knees. Naruto quickly grabbed the other two genins necks and held them tightly making it hard for the genins to breath.

''I guess I will take out whatever I'm feeling out on you fools. This will also be a lesson to you that you should never underestimate your opponent.'' Naruto said impassively.

He kicked the genin who was on his knees on the face sending him flying away. He brought the two genins who were struggling to get out of his hold together in front of him. He slammed them both to the ground creating a small crater.

He picked up one and kneed him hard. He followed by a powerful punch to the gut. The knee and the punch caused the genin to cough out blood. Naruto followed his assault by a high roundhouse kick that sent the genin flying away.

He picked up the other and repeated the same punishment he gave the other. They were all in the same place lying down. Naruto walked slowly towards them. He had not even released any excess energy yet. Naruto reached the three genins and looked down at them.

''They lost conscious.'' He said to himself. He had not even hit them too much, it was just a few blows and they had already lost their consciousness. It was every disappointing.

He bent down and searched the Genins pockets looking for their scroll. While he was searching a malicious burst of chakra washed over the area. The chakra was pregnant with evil intentions. It made Sakura nervous and scared her. The source of the evil chakra was the now awakened Uchiha Sasuke. He was covered with flamed patterns all over his body. His appearance frightened Sakura. Naruto chose to ignore it and continued with his search.

Sasuke had just woken up and the power of the cursed seal had activated. He had never felt so powerful before. The power was just great, he felt like he could defeat anyone with the power he had now. He laughed evilly within himself. He needed to test this power and see what he could do with it. He looked around and saw Naruto standing up in the middle of three fallen genins.

'Naruto will prove to be a good test' he thought as he walked over to the blond.

Naruto felt relieved. He had found a heaven and earth scroll. With the scrolls they could go to the tower without taking detours to look for scrolls. They needed both heaven and earth scroll to pass the second test of the chunin exams. He was curious though as how the genins had gotten their hands on both scrolls. They were weak so he could not think that they could defeat another team of genins. It was unless they had ambushed another team which had separated.

He looked over to see Sasuke making his way over to him. With the look the Uchiha was showing off, he knew what was coming and he was not going to give into it.

''Fight me Naruto.'' Sasuke demanded staring at Naruto.

Naruto was not given time to respond as Sakura spoke before he could, ''Sasuke-kun don't!'' Sakura cried out.

Sasuke did not bother to look at her, his eyes stayed focused on Naruto. Naruto sighed and replied, ''No,'' he said, ''We should go ahead to the tower now since we have all the scrolls.''

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger. Naruto always brushed him off every time he challenged him. It was like Naruto saw him as nothing like a nuisance, as someone who was not worth his time. It infuriated him to no end. He activated his sharingan and charged at the blond. Naruto saw Sasuke coming and dropped the scrolls down. He blocked Sasuke's punch and tried punching Sasuke on his face. Sasuke dodged Naruto's punch. Naruto tried again but Sasuke dodged again.

Sasuke smirked, ''I can see all your attacks before they reach me.'' He said his sharingan blazing proudly.

Naruto realized that he was not moving as fast as he usually does. It confused him because he did not understand why he was not moving as fast as he could. He did not have much time to dwell on his thoughts as Sasuke was dashing towards him. Naruto got ready to defend himself. But pain gripped him from all over his body. It felt like his muscles were being grinded. A severe head ache attacked him. The head ache coupled with the pain all over his body forced him to fall onto his knees. Sasuke did not stop upon seeing Naruto fall to his knees. He continued on with his charge and punched Naruto on his face following with a kick to the temple.

Naruto was sent flying. Sasuke grinned seeing that he was finally beating Naruto. He was actually doing it. It only meant that he was a step away from achieving his grand ambition.

Naruto got up but only to fall down to his knees. He coughed a large amount of blood. He was breathing heavily and his body seemed to be sweating heavily. Sakura saw him and could tell that the blood Naruto had coughed had out was not because of Sasuke's attack. Naruto was just not well, she could tell. After the encounter with Orochimaru she had seen him struggle as if his body was in pain though he hid it too well. She was about to yell for Sasuke to stop when Sasuke stopped and stared at Naruto. She liked the idea of Sasuke beating Naruto but she thought it was wrong taking advantage of Naruto while he was in the kind of situation he was in.

Sasuke was now confused. Despite his arrogance he was smart enough to realize that something was wrong with Naruto. The amount of blood Naruto had coughed was unhealthy and could not have been caused by his attack. The black marks around his body receded back to the cursed mark. Sasuke fell down on his knees as the flames disappeared. He felt a bit of pain on his neck but it quickly disappeared. He got up again and looked at Naruto before looking away. He was too proud to ask the blond what was wrong. He went to pick up the scrolls Naruto had dropped.

Sakura now did not know what to do. Sasuke was now awake she could go to him but Naruto was not well. He needed help serious help and soon. She felt relieved when Naruto got up and went straight to the stream. She watched him wash himself up.

Naruto cleaned himself up at the stream. His body was still in pain but it was not as much as before. Soon the pain would fade away. But it troubled him not knowing what was causing the pain. Zetsu would have the answers he needed.

An hour later

Sasuke walked to Naruto and stood beside the blond. Naruto seemed fine by the way he looked. They could now continue with their way to the tower. By the end of the day they should have arrived at the tower, ''Naruto,'' he called, ''We should head to the tower now.'' He said.

Naruto just nodded and got up. Sakura had already seemed ready to move on. He figured Sasuke might have talked with her first before coming to him.

Without any other words being exchanged they left the stream and headed for the tower at a fast pace.

Later

Team 7 had reached the tower just after it had started to get dark. They had travelled comfortably without any other team confronting them. After they had reached the tower they opened the scrolls. The scrolls had a summoning seal inside them.

Their scroll summoned Iruka who explained to them the meaning of the scrolls and congratulated them on passing the second test. Iruka told them of where they ought to be resting.

The genins went inside the tower and got inside their room. Naruto went straight to his bed without doing anything else. He jumped onto the bed and was fast to fall asleep.

Sakura looked at Sasuke, ''Neh Sasuke-kun, is he going to be alright?''

''Hn'' Was the reply Sasuke gave her.

''It's not like I care about him or anything but he is our teammate.'' She said again looking at Naruto.

Sasuke said nothing; he looked at Naruto and went to his own bed. He needed to rest. What he had done for the day was rewarding for him to get some much needed rest. Sakura saw that Sasuke too had gone to get some sleep. She sighed, 'They went to sleep without even bathing when there is a shower' she thought to herself. She had slept the previous night without bathing she was not going to do it again. Not to her precious body.

**Set two**

A few days later

Naruto looked around standing inside of a hall. It was in the center of the tower. The dead line had passed and all the Genins were all gathered in the room. It was only those who passed the second exam. There only people Naruto found to be interesting where Subaku no Gaara, Yakushi Kabuto, and Rock Lee. The other genin's where just annoyances.

All the Jonin sensei's were all in the room. The Hokage was also there sitting on his chair beside him were Anko and Ninja. Above the balcony behind were the Hokage stood there was a statue that showed arms holding a ram seal. Looking at the balcony and were they stood Naruto could tell that the floor they stood at was used for fighting while the balcony was for the spectators.

Anko stepped forward, ''Congratulations on passing the second test of the chunin exams!'' She said looking around the room. Many genins had passed her test she had not been expecting these many to pass.

''The Hokage will now explain the third exam.'' She said giving the time to the Sandaime Hokage to address the genin's. Everyone looked at the Hokage to hear what he was going to say.

The Hokage cleared his throat and spoke ''Before I explain the third exam to you, I would like to tell you the true meaning of this chunin selection exam. Why do we have allied countries taking the exam at the same time, even some neutral countries.'' He paused to let them think before answering his own question, ''To promote friendship among countries, to raise the standard of shinobi, do not be confused this exam is war,'' The genin grew confused and the tension rose within the large room. ''If we were to turn back time at some point all of us would be fighting the other country over who would rule. This exam is an alternate that allows countries to avoid such wasteful fighting. For the third exam lords of all the countries as well as leaders of your villages will all be watching your fights. You will fight with your life on the line, not to protect your home's land but its prestige. If your country is seen as weak you will lose clients. If you are strong you will gain clients bolstering your homes. If your country is seen as strong it will also send a message to all nations.'' The Hokage paused for a moment to catch his breath.

''Isn't there another way to protect the village's prestige without having to risk our lives?'' A random genin asked to which some other genins nodded in agreement with his words.

The Sandaime narrowed his eyes at the genins. ''The strength of the country is the strength of the village, such as the strength of a village is the strength of a shinobi. A shinobi's strength is only born in life threatening battle.'' The Sandaime replied seriously, ''This exam only has a meaning because there is life threatening battles. Friendship between countries requires this. We call this friendship excising.'' The Hokage said as a man shunshined next to him and bowed in respect.

''Allow me to *cough* explain the third test *cough* Hokage-sama.'' The man spoke looking at the Sandaime Hokage. The Hokage nodded and went back to his seat. The Jonin turned to face the Genins.

''I am Gekko Hayate the proctor of the third exam." The jonin introduced himself, "There is something we must do before the third exam.'' The genins looked at the man he looked like he was really sick by the way he was coughing.

''There is to be preliminaries to decide who gets to participate in the main event.'' The third proctor said before coughing.

''What the hell Preliminaries!'' A bored looking Nara asked the question.

''We have too many participants for the third test thus we have to thin out the numbers under the chunin exam rules.'' He paused for a moment before speaking ''Those who wish to withdraw may step forward now. This is individual basis should you quit your team will not be penalized for it.''

Kabuto raised his hand and stepped forward, "I quite. I'm low on chakra." He said leaving the hall.

Hayate coughed, ''Is there anyone else who wants to quite?'' He asked getting the attention of the Genins. No one else came forward they had come this far they were not going down without a fight.

''Okay we have 22 contestants which mean we will have 11 matches the winners of each will advance to the finals. The rules are simple, there are no rules. The match continues until one dies or is knocked. If you wish to give up you can forfeit. I will step in should you be declared winner and you continue to beat your opponent.'' He paused letting the genins absorb his words.

"Now let us see who you will be matched against.'' He said looking at the black screen, ''This electronic screen will randomly select two contestants who will fight at a time. Now lets us begin!''

The genin waited for their names to pop up in the screen. Naruto just looked at the screen blankly he wished he did not get someone who would waste his time. Two names appeared in the screen ''Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi'' some felt relieved that they went going to fight first. Others were disappointed they wanted it over with.

''Will the two contestants please step forward, the rest of you please proceed to the observation platform above.'' Hayate spoke after coughing.

The genins walked away to the observation area. The sensei's stood behind their students

Sasuke looked at his opponent with an arrogant smirk on his face. He was fully prepared to fight, he had gotten enough rest. He took out a kunai and got into a stance. Yoroi took out three shurikens and held them with both his hands.

He threw them at Sasuke. Sasuke waited for the shurikens to block them with his kunai. Yoroi ran at fast speeds towards Sasuke. The shurikens reached Sasuke, he deflected them. He was not able to react fast as Yoroi was in front of him while he was blocking the last shuriken. He had yet to activate his sharingan thus we was not able to detect the oncoming right hook from his opponent. It connected with his right side of the face and pushed him back.

Sasuke cursed himself for making such a stupid mistake and getting hit early. He activated his sharingan. He rushed towards the oncoming genin prepared to a taijutsu battle. He was faster than his opponent thus he was able to use the advantage of his speed. Yoroi brought his right hand trying to smack Sasuke on the face, but Sasuke saw it coming and easily dodged. He tried to kick Sasuke but the Uchiha caught his leg and landed and hard punch to the face. Sasuke let go of Yoroi's leg and spun around kicking the Genin on his shoulder. Yoroi was sent crashing in to the wall. He gritted his teeth at the slight pain he felt and quickly recovered rushing of Sasuke.

Sasuke waited for his opponent to arrive. Yoroi jumped up attempting to punch Sasuke with much force. Sasuke side stepped the attempt and gutted the genin. Yoroi hissed clutching his stomach. Sasuke was not done he brought out his right hand and gripped the genin by the neck. He glared at the Genin with enough coldness that would make anyone gulp in fear. He was busy formulating a plan on what to do now that he had his opponent. Yoroi suddenly broke free from Sasuke's hold. He held Sasuke by his right hand sucking out of his chakra.

Sasuke only realized it when he his reserves were starting to empty. He quickly tried to separate himself with Yoroi. What he got from his attempt was a hard kick on the face that sent him flying away. He flipped in midair and landed gracefully on the floor. He glared at his opponent who had a grin on his face. Yoroi looked as if he had won the match, but Sasuke was not going to give up easily because his chakra got sucked. He inhaled large amounts of wind and did a few hand seals.

**'Fire style: Great fire ball'**

He exhaled a large fireball that sped towards the grinning Yoroi. Sasuke was positive that his opponent would not be able to dodge since he was not faster than him. He ended the Jutsu and fell on one knee panting. His chakra was running low he should have not done the jutsu. An insane chuckle invaded his ears. He looked forward to see Yoroi standing just away from him unharmed by his jutsu.

''I see you still had some chakra left.'' Yoroi spoke with a bit of amusement in his voice. Sasuke just got up and glared at him.

Yoroi rushed forward so that he could end the match before the Uchiha came up with a plan to win the match. Sasuke waited till Yoroi was in front of him. He acted fast and brought out his left hand aiming Yoroi's face. Yoroi saw it coming and grabbed Sasuke's hand. He smirked at the Uchiha but it vanished quickly when he saw a wide smirk on Sasuke's face. Before he could know why Sasuke was smirking he received and punch to the gut that had him coughing a bit of blood. He let go of Sasuke's hand. Sasuke dropped to the ground and did a leg sweep. Yoroi was falling down when Sasuke grabbed both his legs and spun around twice before throwing him up. Sasuke jumped up moving fast than his opponent.

Yoroi looked up to see Sasuke waiting for him. Sasuke was facing down the ground when he mastered all his power in a single kick. The kick connected with Yoroi's chest sending him down fast. Yoroi crashed to the ground with a sickening thud.

Everyone winced at the sound of Yoroi's body hitting the ground.

Sasuke landed down and smirked when he looked at Yoroi, he was out cold.

Hayate stepped in forward and coughed before announcing the winner, ''Winner, Uchiha Sasuke.''

Sasuke smiled and tiredly walked to where his team was standing. The medics rushed to take the fallen Yoroi out the floor to clear the space for other competitors.

The next match was Kankuro vs. Shino. Naruto just watched with a rather bored look. At the beginning one could think that Kankuro was going to lose the match. But Kankuro ended up winning the match without harm. Kankuro was a puppet user; Shino had thought his bugs had sucked out Kankuro's chakra. Too bad for him the 'Kankuro' the bugs were trying to extract chakra from was just a mere puppet. Shino knew that without his bugs being ineffective he could not win the match thus he gave up after he had failed to see how he would win. Puppet users dealt with dangerous poison. To Naruto poison was not a problem the Kyubi could counter any poison. It would take some time but there was no way he could die from poisoning.

Haruno Sakura and Ino Yamanaka were next. The match started with them bitching about some nonsense. Then it was the cat fight, more like pillow fight. It was the most pathetic excuse of a shinobi fight Naruto had ever seen. Both girls ended knocking each other out cold. Both had no skills of a ninja. They were weak, no physical strength. Their Taijutsu was academy level; they seemed to have never trained after passing the academy. Naruto had not expected much from Sakura he had seen that the girl does not train.

''Pathetic'' Naruto muttered.

Everyone who was close to him nodded in agreement with his words. Even Sasuke nodded, Kakashi had the decency to look ashamed of his student. Those were not Ninja's fighting; it was academy school girls fighting over a crush. Had it been the finals, Konoha would have surely lost customers. If the Kunoichi's fought the way Ino and Sakura fought, they would be killed each time they were out on a mission. If both girls were going to be serious about their careers they needed to understand what it meant to be a ninja, or they would die soon and young.

Naruto looked around the balcony to see that all the others had the same thoughts, the match was pathetic. His eyes narrowed at Gaara, it seemed that the Jinchuriku was getting impatient. Naruto shook his head the view, Gaara was still his age and yet he was always looking for blood.

''Will Uzumaki Naruto and Inuzuka Kiba step forward please!'' Hayate called out.

Naruto's face remained impassive as he made his way towards the fighting area. Of all the people he could fight he had been drawn against Kiba. Luck was really not on his side for the exams. He reached the fighting area and crossed his arms on his chest. He looked straight at Kiba's eyes with an impassive gaze.

Kiba was grinning, he felt confident in his abilities. Will all the training he had been doing he believed that he could defeat Naruto. He did not know of how Naruto fought ever since his "transformation" but he believed in his own abilities. With Akamaru by his side he could beat anyone.

"Are both fighters ready?" Hayate said. Kiba nodded, Naruto gave no response. Hayate just took the silence as a yes, "Begin!"

"I'm going to take you down Naruto!" Kiba spoke aloud with a confident grin. Akamaru barked agreeing with his masters words. Naruto made no sign that he heard Kiba's words. "Hey, did you hear me?"

Again Naruto did not respond, "I'm talking to you bastard!" Kiba yelled out with a bit of anger at being ignored.

"Will you attack me already and stop annoying me." Naruto finally spoke.

Kiba grinned, "Let's do this Akamaru." He said to his dog partner. Akamaru barked in acknowledgement of Kiba's words.

Spectators

Kakashi looked at Naruto as if he was studying him. Naruto was acting differently. He was not told in detail what had happened during the encounter with Orochimaru. He was only interested in that they were alive and the cursed mark Orochimaru had given Sasuke. He had sealed the curse mark but was not sure if it would hold. Looking at Naruto he could tell something was wrong.

He looked at Sasuke who was watching from his left side, "What's wrong with Naruto?" Sasuke just shrugged he did not care nor was he seeing anything wrong with the blond.

Kakashi sighed seeing Sasuke's response, "Did something happen to him during the encounter with Orochimaru?" he asked another question again.

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, "You should ask Naruto that question." He finally replied to his sensei.

Kakashi nodded and looked at Sakura. The girl seemed nervous about something. He shrugged it off as nothing and looked back at Naruto and Kiba.

Hinata felt a bit excited because she was going to see Naruto fight. She had never seen him fight ever since they became genin. He was always the source of her strength. She believed that she would fight bravely in her match should Naruto win his match.

Shikamaru and other Konoha genins just watched on. They wanted to see what Naruto was capable of with their own eyes. Their sensei's had said he was strong but they had never seen him fight before. This was a good opportunity to see his abilities.

Fighting floor

Kiba bended down and placed his hands on the ground. Akamaru jumped in front of him and turned into a clone of Kiba. Both took animalistic features compared to their normal selves.

"**Gatsuga" **

Kiba yelled as he took the form of a spinning vortex. The spinning vortex sped at Naruto at fast speeds. Naruto just stood at his position with his hands still crossed at his chest. He waited for Kiba's attack to reach him.

Kurenai looked at Naruto. 'What is he thinking standing there like that if he gets hit the match will be over' she thought to herself wondering why Naruto was not even trying to dodge Kiba's attack. She knew Kiba's offensive attack was powerful and could cause a lot of damage if it hit. It was almost impossible to block. The only way she had been able to escape the attack was if she dodged. She had never attempted to block the attack.

The spinning vortex reached Naruto and when it looked like it was about to hit him it missed. Kiba hit the ground and continued to spin furiously as it dug a hole on solid ground. The Gatsuga came out again from the ground and charged at Naruto it missed him again. The same sequence continued for several times. None of the attempts hit naruto. Several holes could be seen at the ground.

What shocked many who were watching many was that Naruto was still in the same position he was in. His hands still crossed on his chest while he was surrounded by many holes

Kiba stopped his attack and returned to normal. His fruitless attacks seemed to have taken a lot of chakra from him because his breathing was slightly labored. "Stay still you bastard so that I can hit you!" he yelled in frustration. He tried the Gatsuga again but still the results where the same.

Naruto looked at the Genin, "Is that all you can do?" he said, "How disappointing."

His hands dropped from his chest and he blurred out of sight. He appeared in front of Kiba and kicked the genin on his waist sending him crashing towards the wall. Akamaru had jumped up and did not fly away with Kiba. Cracks appeared on the wall were Kiba had hit. Akamaru barked as he charged at Naruto looking to bite him. Naruto caught the small puppy by its hand. He hit its head and knocked it out cold.

"Get your hands off Akamaru!" Kiba yelled while charging at Naruto blindly.

Naruto turned around to face the genin. Kiba attempted to punch Naruto on the face. But Naruto caught his hand and squeezed it.

"Ahhhh" Kiba cried out as Naruto was crushing his hand. Naruto kneed Kiba on his gut. He let go of Kiba's hand and Punched with his left hand. His right hand followed with another powerful punch to the temple that sent Kiba flying away from him.

Naruto blurred away and caught Kiba's leg while he was still flying. He slammed the genin to the ground creating debris. Naruto did not wait for the debris to clear; he gripped Kiba's bleeding face and lifted the genin up. He imparted the genin with a powerful punch at his gut. Kiba coughed out some blood because of the punch.

Naruto threw Kiba into the air. When Kiba was coming down towards him he spun around and kicked Kiba's body. The kick sent Kiba crashing towards the wall. Kiba's body partly destroyed the wall. His bleeding body lay broken on the ground. He had lost consciousness.

'How brutal,' some of the genins thought watching the fight. The only person who smiled was Subaku No Gaara.

Naruto stood still waiting for Hayate to call the match. Hayate stepped forward, "Kiba is unable to fight, Winner Uzumaki Naruto!" he announced.

Naruto walked away as the medics rushed at Kiba to take him away to heal him. When he arrived at the balcony he found Yuhi Kurenai waiting for him. Kurenai stared at Naruto with a bit of anger in her eyes. She was angry that Naruto had hit her student roughly. She believed he could have ended the match in a more harmless way.

Naruto walked passed by the woman without sparing her a glance. Kurenai grabbed his hand and held it firmly. She pulled him back in front of her. Naruto did to resist. Kurenai glared at him, "Was it really necessary to beat him like that?"

"Yes"

Kurenai gritted her teeth in anger. She could not believe that he had just given her that kind of answer. Her hold on Naruto's hand tightened to extreme. A touch on her shoulder stopped her from doing something to Naruto. She looked around and saw Kakashi giving her one of his eye smiles.

"Let it go Kurenai." He said with a smile, "You are causing a scene."

Kurenai looked around and saw that everyone was looking at them. She calmed herself down and let go of Naruto's hand and returned to Hinata's side. Kakashi smiled at Naruto, "You should take it easy on your fellow genin's Naruto."

Naruto shrugged and walked past the genin. He did not take a fight easy. Taking it easy against genins would only give them confidence to continue fighting. With confidence the fight would drag on more than he would like. He did not enjoy being dragged into a fight he found annoying. It was why he chose to end it quickly and brutally.

Hayate coughed to get everyone's attention. The screen showed the next contestants. Hayate looked at the screen, ''Will Subaku no Gaara and Tsuchi Kin step forward to the arena please.'' He called out.

Gaara entered the arena via sand shunshine while Kin walked down the arena. Kin looked at Gaara's face. He had something that resembled a smile. His face scared her. He had eyes that were cold and viewed her life as nothing more than another life to be devoured. She could feel the aura of bloodlust radiating from the sand Genin. She feared for her life looking at the genin.

''Are both fighters ready?'' Hayate called out. Both contestants nodded, ''Begin.''

Gaara grinned maliciously as he stared at Kin. Kin shuddered because of the grin. She looked at Hayate, ''Proctor I forfeit.'' She said taking a step away from Gaara.

Hayate nodded but before he could announce Gaara as the winner the genin was already attacking Kin with his sand. He moved quickly and took the girl out of harm's way. ''Subaku no Gaara, your opponent forfeited the match why do you continue to attack her?'' Gaara did not respond. Hayate sighed, ''Tsuchi Kin has forfeited the match winner Subaku no Gaara.''

Gaara shunshined away from the arena looking disappointed that he did not get to kill his opponent. Kin felt relieved that she had quit the match the sand would have surely crushed her. Now she just had to deal with her teammates who would not be pleased that she gave up the match without even fighting first.

Hayate looked at the screen again, ''Will Rock Lee and Kinuta Dosu step forward please.'' He called out.

Lee jumped up with a huge smile on his face, ''Guy-sensei it's finally my turn to show my flamed of youth!'' He cried out.

Gai smiled at his student, ''Yosh, go make me proud Lee. Show everyone how your flames burn brightly.'' Gai cried with the same enthusiastic as his student.

''Yes Gai-sensei.'' Lee said as he jumped into the arena. He was excited about finally getting his chance to fight. His sensei would be watching him and he was not going to disappoint his sensei. He was going to show his youthful flames that burned brightly inside of him.

Kinuta Dosu stepped in the ring. He had bandages covering most of his face, leaving only his left eye uncovered. He wore a large poncho with long sleeves, a snake patterned scarf, a straw raincoat protruding from the back of his scarf, and a large amplifier on his right arm. The amplifier was called the melody arm.

''Are both fighters ready?'' Hayate asked as he looked at the genins. He earned a nod from both genins, ''Begin!'' He yelled as he jumped away from the arena.

Lee took a taijutsu stance. His face had a serious expression. He charged at Dosu and attempted to kick the Genin at his upper body. Dosu brought out his right arm to block the kick. Lee's foot connected with the melody arm. Lee retrieved his leg and brought out his right attempted to kick the genin again. Dosu raised his left arm to block Lee's kick. The power behind the kick pushed him back a bit.

Lee smiled a bit before taking a stance again. He waited for his opponent to make a move. Dosu dashed at Lee and attempted to hit him with the melody arm on his face but Lee jumped back to avoid being hit. He moved forward to lee and swung his left arm attempting to punch the genin. Lee blocked the attempt and attempted to kick Dosu. Dosu blocked the attempt with his right arm. Lee jumped back making some distance with his opponent.

Despite having only started the fight was certainly interesting. With the way the genins were exchanging attacks it was something worth watching other than some one-sided fights they had witnessed.

The two continued to exchange blows. Dosu had been unable to land a hit on Lee as Lee was faster than him. Lee had managed to land a few hits but none had done much damage to the genin. Dosu was getting frustrated because of his lack of penetration through Lee's defense. He was also panting slightly and had a couple of bruises while Lee looked fine.

Lee dashed at Dosu and swung his hand attempted to punch the genin Dosu blocked the attack. He was unable to block the kick the followed. He was sent flying but he quickly recovered by flipping in midair and landed on the ground.

Just when he landed he rushed at Lee at his full speed. Lee also rushed at the Genin. They clashed in the middle. Dosu swung his melody arm at Lee's temple but Lee did enough to block the attack before it could hit him. But the arm was close to his head. Dosu smirked under his bandages as his melody arm released sound waves.

The sound waves infected Lee and caused his vision to become blurry. He could not see properly. Dosu tried punching Lee on the gut but Lee sensed the attack and jumped back. His vision was still blurry.

''What is happening?'' He asked being confused as to why his vision had suddenly become blurry. The only answer he got was a rough chuckle from Dosu.

Dosu moved closer to Lee and kicked him on his chest sending him flying away. Lee flipped in midair and landed on the ground gracefully. The moment he landed Dosu was in front of him. Dosu's right arm crashed into his gut. He spun around and kicked Lee to his temple.

Lee hit the wall but recovered quickly. He got up and coughed a bit of blood. His vision was returning to him. He looked at Dosu's right. It was doing something to him. It looked like kind of gauntlet to him. It was very strange looking at it carefully as he had never seen something of its kind before. He just had to avoid it.

''Don't give up Lee!'' Gai yelled out to his student.

Lee looked at his sensei with a smile. Despite looking like he was losing his sensei was cheering for him. He smiled at his sensei and gave him a thumps up, ''Hai Gai-sensei.''

''Release your weights and show them your youthful flames Lee.'' Gai cried out again. He was not about to let his student lose when he had the power to win his match.

Lee nodded and removed the weights on both his legs. The weights landed on the ground and created a large dent on the floor. The ground shook when the weights hit. It shocked many, 'what the hell' some thought upon seeing how heavy the weights were.

Lee got into a stance and looked at his opponent, ''You have been a worthy opponent but I must end this.'' He said seriously.

Dosu was about to retort when Lee blurred out of sight. He appeared in front of Dosu. Dosu attempted to punch Lee in the face. But Lee blurred out of his sight again. Lee appeared behind Dosu and kicked the genin with a powerful on his back. Dose was sent crashing towards the wall.

Lee waited for Dosu to recover. He did not wait for too long as Dosu came charging at him. Dosu swung his right hand attempted to disrupt Lee's hearing with his melody arm. Lee side stepped the attack and punched Dosu to the gut. He jumped up and slammed both his hands on Dosu's head compelling the genin down the floor.

Lee waited for Dosu to get up when he did he kicked him on the chin sending him up in the air. He did this after opening the first of the eight chakra gates. He used **shadow** **of the dancing leaf** and appeared behind Dosu while still in air. He let loose of the bandages on his arms and wrapped them around Dosu, restraining him. As they began to fall down the ground head facing the ground they rotated at a ferocious speed. Lee pile-drived Dosu to the ground head first. Dosu lay on the dent he created on the floor unconscious.

Lee was on one knee breathing heavily beside Dosu. His body was bruised but not heavily.

Hayate stepped forward, ''Kinuta Dosu is unable to continue, winner Rock Lee!'' He announced.

Lee grinned brightly and slowly made his way back to the balcony. ''You did it Lee. I'm so proud to be your sensei.'' Guy cried out.

''Guy-sensei''

''Lee''

''Guy-sensei''

''Lee'' Guy cried as he burst into tears and rushed to hug his student with much affection. Lee was also in tears while hugging his sensei.

Everyone looked disturbed by the view. No one looked twice at the two hugging man. It was not every day that you saw two men hugging each other with that much affection. It was greatly disturbing to see.

Hayate saved everyone by announcing the next match, ''Will Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji come down please.''

Hinata shyly made her way down the arena. She was not sure if she could fight against her cousin and win. She eyed Naruto and flustered because he was staring at her. She quickly looked away from him while poking her fingers. Naruto was watching her she would do her best.

'A match between two Hyuga's' Naruto thought. It would be certainly a match worth watching. Naruto was interested in seeing the two Hyuga's fight. He wanted to see what the Byakugan could do against another Byakugan. He did not have much Intel on the doujutsu as Madara had refused to acknowledge the Byakugan as a doujutsu. He had said the doujutsu was useless and therefore could not be placed in the same league as the Sharingan and the Rinnegan.

Hayate looked between the two contestants, "Are both fighters ready?" he earned nods from both Hyuga's, "Begin!" He yelled out.

Hinata seemed to be hesitant to take a stance. She did not look like somebody who was ready for a fight. Neji seemed prepared for anything. He had an impassive expression that most of the Hyuuga's seemed to wear.

Naruto shook his head seeing Hinata. The girl still lacked self-confidence. Without confidence she could not possibly win a battle if her opponent is going all in his power to win. He had no hope that she could win the match without confidence in her own abilities. Believe could say they believed in her but if she could not believe that she could do it there was nothing that she could do. Still he was interested in the match.

Neji stared at Hinata coldly. With look he had given the girl one could not tell that she was his cousin, "Forfeit the match Hinata-sama, you cannot defeat me," He said coldly. Hinata could not defeat him. They had sparred a few times and she had never come close to defeating him. He had seen her fight several times. With her skills she could not defeat him. Hinata looked down while poking her fingers, "You are not fit to be a shinobi because you lack self confidence. Someone with no self-confidence is fated to lose."

Hinata was a bit downed by Neji's cold words. She wanted to fight him and prove that she could compete to him, and also save him from the darkness that was consuming him. She took a stance and had a look of a dedicated Kunoichi.

Neji shook his head, "You don't listen. I will prove to you that you are a loser and will always be a loser." He said as he took a stance.

"Byakugan" Both Hyuga's yelled as veins bulged around their eyes.

Both ran towards each other with their doujutsu active. They engaged in their clan's famed Taijutsu style, the gentile fist. The battle went on for a few minutes as the two Hyuga's traded blows. Their taijutsu style specialized on attacking the chakra networks inside of a person. For damage to be done they had to use chakra externally in a form of lacing it around their hands. To block the attack one had to block with a chakra laced hand to avoid taking damage. Should it hit one faced the risk of getting their chakra paths closed forcefully. When chakra points where were closed at a certain part of the body that part becomes immobile.

Neji suddenly kicked Hinata on her chest sending her away from him. Hinata was bruised and panting but had nonetheless taken less damage. Neji looked fine. He was not even slightly winded. One could tell that he was used to fight at such level while Hinata was not.

Neji ran at Hinata and brought out his right hand trying to connect it with Hinata's chest. Hinata deflected the attack with her own attack and jumped back creating a breathing space. Neji charged at her again and exchanged palm attacks with Hinata. Hinata blocked all his attempts, but she did so with difficulty.

Neji increased his speed a bit catching Hinata off guard by his increase of speed. His chakra laced palm landed in the middle of Hinata's chest. Hinata coughed blood before going down to her knees.

Neji looked at her, "I told you that you are a loser and would remain as such. Regardless of many times you fight to change that it will never change, you will always be a loser. Fate cannot be changed." He said and turned away from her.

"Proctor call the match, she won't be able to continue." Neji said walking away.

Hayate looked at Hinata. The blow to the heart should have ended the match. Hinata did not look like she could continue with the match, "Winner Hyu…." He stopped when he saw Hinata was standing up albeit shaking.

Hinata looked at Neji who had stopped walking away after hearing Hayate stop announcing him as the winner, "I-it is true that I l-lack self-confidence. I-i don't believe that people cannot change. I have seen many people c-change. Y-you are also wrong about something Neji, It is n-not I that I am t-trying to change. What I want to change is you. You have been suffering most of your life and I want to change that." Hinata said

Neji said nothing for a moment before his eyes burned with hidden fury. He ran towards Hinata looking to end her life with one last attack at her chest. The jonins knew that should Neji hit Hinata it would end her life. Hayate, Gai and Kurenai rushed at the Arena and stopped Neji from killing his cousin.

Neji looked at the jonins and scoffed, "Is this another special treatment for the Hyuuga main branch?" He said. All the jonins holding let go off him and allowed him to retreat back to the balcony.

Hinata collapsed down to the ground alarming Kurenai to rush over to her. She carried the girl to the medics so that she could get help before her life became in danger.

"Winner, Hyuuga Neji!" Hayate announced.

Naruto sighed. He was not able to see what the Byakugan could actually do. If what he had seen was all the doujutsu was capable of then Madara had been right to discard it as a doujutsu. It did not give any abilities like the Sharingan and the Rinnegan. The remaining of the contestants did not interest him. He stepped back and stood against the wall. He set down Indian style and closed his eyes. He held a single hand seal and thought, 'Sleep'.

The last thing he heard was, "Nara Shikamaru VS Akimichi Choji" His mind rested and as he fell asleep. 'Sleep' was a kind of medical jutsu that Madara had taught him. It worked like any sleeping pill but with the Jutsu he slept immediately upon the jutsu being cast. He used the chakra inside his body to 'influence' his mind to sleep.

Minutes later

Naruto was woken up by Kakashi. He had only slept for a few minutes. It was enough to pass the time. "The preliminaries are over," Kakashi said, "There others are already down there." Kakashi said pointing at the gathered genin.

Naruto nodded and went to the other genins. The Sandaime was making one of his speeches.

"…..Time allows for you to know yourself better and your enemy. During this time you will be able to study your opponent's abilities. In this month you will have the chance to improve yourselves." The Sandaime said while eyeing Naruto.

"Now, let us decide who you will face at the finals, take a piece of paper from the box that Anko-san is holding." He said pointing at Anko.

The genins that had made it to the finals did as told. Naruto was not surprised to see that Shikamaru had won his match against Choji. Shikamaru was smart enough to counter anyone. Each piece of paper they too had a number written on it. They presented their numbers and where drawn of who would face who.

Match 1: Uzumaki Naruto Vs Hyuuga Neji

Match 2: Subaku no Gaara Vs Rock Lee

Match 3: Subaku no Kankuro Vs Uchiha Sasuke

Match 4: Nara Shikamaru Vs Subaku no Temari

"Are there any questions?" The Sandaime asked.

"Since this is a tournament does it mean that the winner of the tournament will be the only one who becomes chunin?" Shikamaru asked.

"Different judges judge in the tournament, if someone is judged to posses' skills and mentality of the chunin he/she will be promoted to chunin. It does not matter if they win or lose their matches."

"There is also a chance that none of you become chunin but there is also a chance that you can all become chunin. It depends if whether you are fit to become a chunin or not." The sandaime said, "Are there any more questions?" He waited for the genins to give their answer, seeing that there were no more questions he spoke again, "Good you are all dismissed."

One by one the genins left the tower. Naruto was stopped by Kakashi from leaving the tower for a moment, "Meet me at training ground tomorrow morning." Kakashi said and disappeared from Naruto's view.

**Set Three**

Training ground 7

Naruto sat on top of a tree waiting for Kakashi to appear. The jonin had called him the previous day to the training ground. He was not the only one who was at the training ground, Sasuke was also there. Sakura was not called to the training ground. Naruto figured that the Jonin wanted to speak about training. Sakura did not make it to the finals so Kakashi would not have a reason to call her. It was obvious that Kakashi would be forced to train his team since they had made it to the chunin exam finals. Naruto did not want to train for the month before the chunin finals. He wanted to clear his thoughts and make plans on what he would do after the exams. He could not just continue living as he was, he needed to change things.

Naruto jumped out of the tree and landed on the ground because Kakashi had appeared. Kakashi did not have his book at his hand, but his usual bored expression was still worn. It disappeared for a moment when Kakashi flashed an eye smile to his students.

''First, I want to congratulate for making it to the finals, as your sensei I am very proud of you and I knew that you could do it.'' Kakashi said. Some could interpret his words as that he knew that Naruto and Sasuke could do it but he did not believe that Sakura could do it. He had said that he believed that his team could do well in the exams, but Naruto highly doubted that he believed Sakura would make it to the finals if it involved fighting on her own.

''I called you here today so that I can tell you about your training for the month before the finals,'' Kakashi said, ''Unfortunately Naruto I won't be able to train you, But I have asked for someone to train you. He will be training you in chakra since I have never seen you use it externally and I know that you have large amounts of chakra reserves which must also be hard to control.''

Naruto shook his head, ''There is no need for that. I will train myself if I see the need to do so.'' He said.

Kakashi looked at Naruto curiously but nodded, ''Well then, I will be training Sasuke till the finals. Do you have a problem with that Naruto?'' Kakashi asked not wanting to be seen like he was favoring Sasuke. Naruto was his sensei's son he did not want the blond to have any reason to resent him.

Naruto shook his head. He had no problems with it. Sasuke needed to be trained more than he did. And he was positive that the council had something to do with Kakashi training Sasuke.

The reason Kakashi was training Sasuke was because the Sandaime knew that if they wanted to keep Sasuke inside the village they had to train him. Orochimaru had already marked the Uchiha it was a matter of lack of training that would drive Sasuke towards him. To avoid that Kakashi had to train Sasuke to make him see that even Konoha wants him to get stronger.

Kakashi smiled at Naruto, ''I will see you at the finals then.'' He said as he touched Sasuke's shoulder and disappeared with him and a swirl of leafs.

Naruto disappeared to the trees. He was sure Zetsu would have been at the training ground. He did not come to him yesterday. It did not take long for Zetsu to appear beside him from a tree branch.

''Zetsu, my body has been experiencing severe pains over the last days. Do you know what might be the cause of it?'' Naruto said looking at Zetsu.

Zetsu did not answer for a few moments. After a few seconds he finally answered, ''It must have because of some experiments Madara did on you.''

Naruto raised a brow, ''Experiments?''

Zetsu nodded, ''A month before you became a genin Madara did some experiments on you. But he never did tell me what kind of experiments they were.''

Naruto did not remember Madara experimenting on him before that he graduated, ''Why don't I remember that?''

''Well it is because you where knocked out when the experiment was carried out,'' Zetsu replied, ''But don't worry If your body has experienced severe pains it means that the experiment was a failure and there will be no negative effects on your body, at least that is what Madara told me.''

Naruto nodded but still surprised that his grandfather would experiment on him while he was unconscious. He was a perfect experiment specimen since any cut he suffered on his body would disappear no matter how deep it was. The Kyubi made sure of that. But since it was his grandfather who had experimented on him he did not have any fears that he might have done something bad to his body.

''I am surprised though that your body reacted now with the experiment done months ago.''

''It must have been triggered by the embarrassment I suffered in the hands of Orochimaru. The severe pains started after my encounter with the sennin.''

''Orochimaru was at the exams?''

''Yes, it appears he wanted to give Sasuke a cursed mark. But I do not believe that it was the only reason that he had come to Konoha,'' Naruto said, ''I want you to investigate Orochimaru's activities and also get me Intel on Yakushi Kabuto.''

Zetsu nodded, ''I will see you in a few days then.'' He said and sank back to the tree branch. Zetsu appeared again just after he had disappeared, ''I forgot to tell you that Jiraiya has returned to the village.'' He said and went away.

Naruto had not been expecting Jiraiya to return to the village at this time. The Sennin would surely come to him in order to form a bond between them. Naruto did not want that with the sennin. If he hated the man for not taking care of him even if he was his godfather he longer did hate the man. Had Jiraiya taken care of him he would not have met Madara the way he did. He was somewhat thankful that Jiraiya abandoned him.

The following day

The streets of Konoha were relatively quiet unlike the days in which the first and second test of the chunin exams where being carried out. It was mostly because a lot of people were busy preparing for the finals. Even the villagers and leaders of villages watched the main event of the chunin exam finals. It was no wonder why the finals were held at a high regard.

Naruto walked slowly to Icharaku ramen. He rarely went to the place to eat. He ate home cooked meal most of the time. Today he had felt that he needed to eat somewhere else. It would also help him clear his thoughts. With a lot going over his head it was necessary to get some fresh air.

Naruto arrived at the ramen stand and took a sit. There was just one other customer beside him. People did not go away from the ramen stand when he came now since most of the villagers had stopped glaring at him.

Teuchi smiled upon seeing Naruto take a sit, ''Ah Naruto, it has been long since I last saw you. How have you been my boy?'' The old man asked.

''I have been well, just a little busy.'' Naruto replied.

Teuchi nodded, ''Ayame, Naruto is here!'' He called out to his daughter.

''Can I have two bowls of miso ramen, please.'' Naruto said to Teuchi. Teuchi nodded and went away to the kitchen to get Naruto's order.

Ayame came out of the kitchen with a brightened smile. She was happy to see Naruto. After she had made him promise that he would not disappear without telling her and that he would visit the ramen once in a while, Naruto came at the ramen stand once or twice in a month. She was just happy that he had kept his promise and did not forget about her for months.

''Naruto, I am so happy to see you!'' Ayame almost yelled out. Naruto nodded, it was good to see her too. He might not care for a lot of people but the Icharaku family was a family who he would never forget. They had done a lot for him without expecting anything in return. They were good people as such he respected them for their kindness and love.

''Did you make it to the finals?'' Naruto nodded, ''I'm going to place my bet on you to win.'' Ayame said with a grin.

Teuchi came from the kitchen with Naruto's ramen, ''There you go.'' He said handing over the ramen to Naruto. He went back to the kitchen leaving Ayame to chat with Naruto.

Ayame talked with Naruto for some time while the blond was eating his ramen. She asked him a few questions which Naruto answered. Ayame was quick to realize that Naruto was easily bored which was why he did not speak much. Despite him always having an impassive gaze he was not cold hearted, that much she could tell.

Still, she missed the old Naruto who would have been devouring his ramen now instead of savoring it. She wished that he could someday just act the way he used to just for her. She missed his smile, no matter what she had done to make him smile but he never did smile. The foxy grin he always used to give her was something she would never forget. It was now an image that was imprinted in her mind and she was always staring at it whenever she thought of him. He was a part of her life and she would make sure it continued that way.

It was always refreshing for Naruto to visit the ramen stand. It did not annoy him listening or answering Ayame's questions. Coming to the stand he could always tell that she was alright and that pleased him.

Naruto finished eating his ramen and paid Ayame for the meal. He said his goodbye to the girl and left the ramen stand.

The following day

Naruto was alone at the Hokage monument. He was still waiting for Zetsu to report what he had found on his search. He was also getting bored because he was having nothing better to do. He had been thinking of going to the hideout for the time being. Konoha was boring at the moment. If he were to disappear no one would worry except the people who watch him. They had started watching him again, he had sensed them today. With them watching him he could not meet Zetsu anywhere. But this time the surveillance had decreased, and they were not as active as they were before the exams started.

It gave him much room to breathe unlike before. With the numbers decreasing Naruto figured that it was just a matter of time before they stopped watching him since it was obvious that they were not going to get anything by tailing him.

Naruto was brought out of his thoughts when a voice sounded beside him, ''The village looks lovely from here, doesn't?''

Naruto quickly turned around to see who it was. He had not sensed the person get beside him. If it was an assassination attempt he would surely have been killed. He saw a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair tied to a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for oil. He also had a noticeable wart on the left side of his nose. The man wore a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore a mesh armour that showed out of his sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, a red haori with two simple yellow circles on each side and a scroll on his back.

''Jiraiya'' Naruto said looking at the sannin. Once again he had been bested by a sannin. It did not please him.

Jiraiya grinned looking at Naruto, ''Oho you know of me.''

Naruto looked back to Konoha taking his eyes off Jiraiya, ''What can I do for you Jiraiya?''

''Have some respect Gaki. I am the great toad sage, Jiraiya-sama, one of the three legendary sannin and you should adress me as Jiraiya-sama!'' Jiraiya said aloud while trying to pose not that Naruto bothered to look at the sannin.

Jiraiya looked down, 'Nobody appreciates my greatness' he thought sadly.

Silence was born as Naruto waited for Jiraiya to answer his question. While Jiraiya did not know how to start the conversation with Naruto. The Sandaime had told him that Naruto knew about his heritage. He did not know which where the correct words to say to Naruto. He sighed and sat down beside Naruto.

''I heard you made it to the finals.'' Jiraiya finally said while looking at the village.

''You heard correct.'' Naruto responded. He did not like going around the bush nor did he like people doing it when they wanted to tell him something. But he was going to tolerate it just this once he had nothing to do anyway.

''When do you start preparing for the finals? I heard there are some tough competitors.''

''I'm already prepared for the finals.'' Naruto responded dismissively.

Jiraiya was quiet for a moment before finally getting main reason he had come to see Naruto, ''The old man told me you are aware of your heritage. Is that true?''

''Yes...so?''

Jiraiya was not expecting the kind of response from Naruto. It was not going to be easy for him, ''Then you probably know what I am to you.''

''Yes, but I don't consider you as such.''

Jiraiya nodded sadly. He had messed up but he could try to get involved in Naruto's life. It could not make up for his mistakes but it was better than nothing, ''It is my responsibility to train you and teach you your father's jutsu. I know you said you are already prepared for the finals, but what do you say to training with me? We could make up for lost time.'' He said with a grin.

''I don't need training from you, Jiraiya, and I certainly have no desire to learn any of Minato's jutsu.'' Naruto said impassively.

Jiraiya noticed that Naruto said Minato instead of father. But he chose to put it aside, for now that is, ''I can teach you ninjutsu, I heard that you where not taught any ninjutsu. You do need to take advantage of the reserves you have. I can be of help in that.'' Jiraiya argued.

''Yes, I'm sure you can be of use in that, but I don't need your help.''

Jiraiya let loose of a sigh of frustration. By the tone Naruto used he knew he was not going anywhere. Naruto was not going to allow him to train him, ''You know most people would rush at the opportunity of being trained by a sannin,'' Jiraiya said, ''Do you hate me for not being there for you? Is that why you are refusing my help?''

Naruto shook his head, ''I bear no fangs for you Jiraiya.'' Naruto responded.

''Then why are you refusing my help. It could do you well than bad.''

''I have my reasons.''

Jiraiya let loose of another sigh, but this time it was a sigh of defeat, ''Fine but I'm not going to stop trying to get you to allow me to train you,'' He said, ''I'm going to leave you for now. I have to do some 'research'.'' Jiraiya spoke with a lecherous grin and disappeared in puff of smoke.

''That is one obstacle out of the way.'' Naruto said to himself. With the Jiraiya issue taken care of he could now think of other things. Naruto got up and disappeared into thin air.

Later that night

A swirling vortex appeared inside of Naruto's bedroom. When it disappeared a figure wearing a black cloak with red clouds and an orange mask which had only his right eye visible. The figured right eye was a fully matured Sharingan.

Naruto was alarmed and quickly woke up. It was obvious that the figure wanted Naruto to wake up as he made no intentions to be discreet when he walked over to a window inside of Naruto's room. Naruto looked at the figure with slightly wide eyes. This was the last person he was expecting to see in his home.

''So this is Madara's grandson, Uzumaki Naruto.'' The figure said now facing Naruto.

Naruto was still at shock. The last time he had spoken with Zetsu about the figure in his room, Zetsu had said the man was not aware about his relations with Madara. Now with him being before him meant he knew.

''Oh...did you actually think that I did not know about you. I know everything about you boy.''

Naruto got over his shock. Attacking the man was useless now since he could not touch him, ''What do you want Obito?'' Naruto said under his breath.

The now identified Obito looked back outside through the window and spoke, ''I came to see you and to let you know that you are not the only one who has all the cards.'' Obito said, ''I will waiting for you to play your first card and do greet Zetsu for me when you see him.'' Obito said disappearing in the same way as he appeared.

Naruto had been trained to be calm no matter what. Even when he was feeling anger he could be calm as if he was not. And now what had occurred was enough to send him over edge but he remained calm. He had not calculated for Obito to appear before him. It appeared that he just wanted to send a message. His appearance was enough to make Naruto recalculate his future plans.

He supposed Obito was bound to know about him. He was just not expecting him to know about him this soon. It was a good thing that Obito did not do anything.

But with Tobi's appearance he had to train. He had to train in this month and get strong before Tobi made his move. Tobi was just waiting for the right time to make his move. He had to be ready when he did make a move. Training would make him ready.

A few days later, unknown location

After Tobi had appeared before him, Naruto had decided it was best to be training at the hideout. When he came Zetsu was not present, he figured he was still doing his assignment. The hideout gave him the privacy he needed unlike Konoha. The place he got privacy at Konoha was his apartment. And here at the hideout there was no one to disturb his peace. Zetsu did not bother when he was busy.

He had not even bothered to leave a clone behind at Konoha. It would get him a headache that he did not want to experience. It was better not experiencing whatever the clone would experience in his absence.

Naruto was currently eating lunch. He had taken a break from perfecting his skills and ninjutsu. It was better to perfect what he had now before learning new things. Perfecting his ninjutsu would make his jutsu a lot more effective than anyone else's. Perfecting a jutsu required him to understanding the mechanism of a jutsu. If he understood that he could use a jutsu without taking too much chakra from him. Naruto looked at his right as he heard footsteps. He saw Zetsu walking over to him. Naruto waited for his spy to sit and tell him what he had found. But Zetsu was the one to say the first words.

''I did not think I would find you here.''

''Unforeseen circumstances forced me to be here,'' Naruto said looking at his lunch, ''So, what did you find?''

''I will tell you about Kabuto first,'' Naruto looked at Zetsu to hear the report, ''Kabuto was a former ROOT ANBU. He worked as a spy and infiltrated all great villages under the orders of Danzo. He is a medic specialist, and could be second to Senju Tsunade,'' Zetsu paused for a moment, ''He currently a spy for Orochimaru.''

Naruto nodded, ''I had my suspicions about him.'' Naruto said. Still Kabuto had to be a spy master if he was able to infiltrated great villages without getting caught. He was someone to be viewed as a threat. Naruto did not need someone like him alive. Being a spy for Orochimaru would certainly explain his interest in Sasuke. Orochimaru had interests in Sasuke.

''I was able to find some interesting things about Orochimaru.'' Zetsu said bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. This was something he wanted to hear, ''It appears that when he was still a member of Akatsuki he tried taking over Itachi's body.'' Zetsu's words confused Naruto so Zetsu elaborated, ''Orochimaru invented a jutsu that would give him immortality. He consumes another person's body and makes it his own. The consumed body becomes a host to his soul. He needs a strong person to be able to hold his soul. He tried his jutsu on Itachi so that he could get the sharingan but he failed miserably and ran away.''

Naruto nodded, ''So he wants Sasuke so that he could take over his body.'' Sasuke would accept Orochimaru to his body as long as he was told that Itachi would be killed. Sasuke would willingly sell his soul to the devil if it got him the power to kill his brother.

''There is also something very interesting,'' Zetsu said, ''Orochimaru plans to invade Konoha.''

Naruto was quiet for a moment, ''With what army?''

''I do not know the details. But Orochimaru has founded a village called the Sound Village. I think it also involves the Sand jinchuriku. I don't know if the sand itself is connected with the planned invasion.''

''When?''

''Chunin exams final,'' Zetsu responded, ''He is also working with Danzo. But Danzo will not be taking active part in the invasion. He is only making things easy for Orochimaru by providing security details and removing certain ANBU squads so that Orochimaru's people can get into the village without being noticed.''

Naruto was not surprised to hear this, ''So Orochimaru invades Konoha and kills the Sandaime. Aftermath Danzo tried to get himself made Hokage.'' Naruto summed up what Danzo must have planned with helping Orochimaru invade the village.

''What will do if Orochimaru does kill the Sandaime and Danzo petitions to become Hokage?''

''Nothing but you will,'' Naruto said, ''I'm sure you can take care of Danzo should something like that happen.''

Zetsu nodded with a smile.

''Things I had not foreseen are happening quickly. But there is nothing that cannot be managed.'' Naruto paused for a moment, ''Obito came to see me.''

''I'm not surprised about that. I always knew that he would find out sooner than later.'' Zetsu said, ''What did he say?''

''Nothing...oh he said to greet you.''

Zetsu nodded, ''So what do you plan on doing? Others are playing their cards.''

''During the finals my Uchiha heritage will be revealed. I will think of what to do before the finals.'' Naruto said leaving Zetsu alone.

Orochimaru was making his move on Konoha. He had not anticipated something like that to occur. He knew that Orochimaru had no love for Konoha but going as far as to plan its destruction was something he did not see coming. Konoha had done nothing to Orochimaru; he had been the one to wrong the village. For now he did not care if the village got destroyed though. Konoha could always be rebuilt any time.

His power was going to be revealed to Konoha and the world during the finals. Konoha was defiantly going to be shocked upon seeing him wielding the Sharingan.

Right now he needed to train.

Naruto might have thought he was the only one to reveal shocking secrets during the finals. But he was not, there was someone else who had planned to reveal a shocking secret.

**I bet no one was expecting Naruto to get beat like that. Reasons, Orochimaru was not playing with Orochimaru and Naruto did not want Orochimaru and his teammates to see his sharingan. It would ruin his big surprise. The fight also taught Naruto a lesson. Orochimaru is someone who was experienced in fighting so he probably not had been caught in Tsukiyomi. Plus I just wanted to get beat up so to influence him to train harder so that he never goes through something like it again. **

**You must also be wondering why Naruto got beat down the same way he beats up genins. Well it is because of the difference in strength. Genins are weaker than Naruto and he does not play around with them. **

**I did skip too much on the wave mission but that won't be happening again. **

**Well about Naruto's feelings towards the village. I don't think I have said Naruto does love Konoha. But at the moment he has little love for the village and the only reason he stays in it is because Madara said wanted him to stay at the village. That just shows you how far Naruto is willing to go for Madara. **

**Pairings…..I have for Naruto to have two women in his life. They are, Yugao and Mei.**

**And lastly Grammar and spelling errors…. Keep reminding me, I will to my utmost best to correct the errors. **


	6. Chapter 6

**This is the shortest chapter I have written on this story. I made a short one because it makes things easy for me to correct my mistakes giving you a more refined piece of writing.**

**In this chapter there is going to be a change in character from Naruto when he fights. But other than that there are no changes. I made it necessary to make this change because as you recall in those early chapters Madara had said that he had succeeded in making Naruto a more like him.**

**Disclaimer I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Five: The Silent Crowd**

Konoha was buzzing with a lot of activities. Everyone within the village wore a smile. All problems were forgotten, everyone chose to be happy. It was as if heaven was showering the village with bliss. Business owners were somewhat one those who the happiest of all. People from other villages had been inside the village and were buying a lot of things. More visitors meant more profits for them. Despite it being a profitable time there was still competition with the businesses. Competition did not go away; it was what drove successful businesses.

Most people where making bets. The finals of the chunin exams had arrived. Some people just wanted to enjoy good fights while some wanted to enjoy the good fights while making some money off the tournament. No one could be blamed really for making bets; it was what made the tournament worthwhile watching.

Well the streets where full a few hours ago, but now they were all quiet. Only a select few could be seen within the streets of the village. The majority of people were gathered at the stadium which the finals are to be held.

The stadium was full of people. There were no empty seats, each seat was taken. To some the stadium was a bit too small since not everybody could get inside the stadium.

The Fire Lord as well as other leaders of other countries where also present at the stadium. Even some leaders of small villages where present at the stadium, all in the name of the chunin finals. They were present to observe the next generation of powerful shinobi and also to see the strength of genins from other villages. Konoha had the most genins in the finals it was good because it also gave them a chance to see if Konoha was still producing strong shinobi's as it had been over the previous years.

Naruto and the other contestants stood in the middle on the stadium where all could see them, they where the main attraction of the finals. Everyone had come to watch them battle, to see their prowess as genins, to see if they had what it took to become chunin. They were also representing their villages. Performing well would bring glory to their villages at the same time performing bellow par would surely take a bite on the image of their villages. Potential customers and allies where watching, it was for the benefit of their villages to do well in front of them.

Each of them had trained hard for the past month, readying themselves for the finals. Each was determined to win; it was obvious in each of the contestants face. Nobody wanted to lose in front of the whole stadium. It would be hurting to a person's pride to lose while everybody was watching. Especially if one bragged about being a victor at the end of the tournament.

Naruto stood with his hands crossed on his chest with an impassive look on his face. Nothing much had changed with him, only his hair had grown just an inch long. Naruto's hair grew at a faster rate while he kept himself hidden at the hideout than when he was at a place where the sun was welcomed. His hair still covered his right eye. He had trained a bit during the last weeks. What he had been doing most was perfecting his ninjutsu arsenal and better control over his Mangekyou Sharingan. He had yet to be a master of the Sharingan. He did not train his speed; he figured it was fine where it was at the moment.

Today was one of the days that he would surely remember all his life, the day Konoha became aware of his heritage. It would certainly be worth smiling upon seeing the face of Konoha when becomes aware of his heritage.

The Sandaime looked at Naruto with questioning eyes. Beside him was another man who was a Kage like him, the Yondaime Kazekage. Two men wearing ANBU gear stood behind the Kazekage, they were his body guards. The Kazekage was present as his genins had reached the finals. Sunagakure was the only great village to have participated in the exams aside from Konoha, who are the hosts. It was understandable; the others did not get well with Konoha.

The look the Sandaime was giving Naruto was pushed because Naruto had disappeared from the village for three weeks after turning down Jiraiya. He was curious as to where Naruto had gone to after disappearing. He was positive that Naruto was not inside the village those three weeks. He had his ANBU search for him and the best sensors but none were able to find him. His chakra signature had just disappeared without a trace. And they had not been able to get inside of Naruto's apartment, not even the Byakugan could see through the walls of the apartment. He had wondered how Naruto was able to make a seal that could make the Byakugan's abilities ineffective. From what he had observed, Naruto showed no mastery in Fuinjutsu. He did not have Jiraiya break the seal, seeing that Naruto would surely notice that they had broken into his apartment. He did not wish to unsettle the blond any further.

Jiraiya suddenly appeared behind the old Hokage with a grin planted on his face. He was to act as the Sandaime's bodyguard in duration of the finals. ''I told you he would return.'' Jiraiya said to his former sensei.

The Sandaime smiled slightly without even looking back at Jiraiya. He had been thinking that Naruto had abandoned the village. Jiraiya had said he was sure that Naruto would return to the village. Jiraiya was indeed right Naruto had returned today for the finals. ''I guess you where right, though I still wonder why he would disappear like that without telling anyone.'' He said, ''Is everything set?'' He asked still smiling.

''Yes.'' Jiraiya replied with a nod. Jiraiya had found out that Orochimaru was planning to invade the village during the finals. They had made preparations to encounter the threat.

The Sandaime nodded, ''Good'' he said his eyes focusing on the arena.

''It certainly is lively in here. Don't you agree Hokage-dono?'' The 'Kazekage' suddenly spoke. One could not see his face clearly due to the Kage robe he wore.

The Sandaime looked at the 'Kazekage' and smiled, ''It certainly is.''

Before the conversation between the two kages could go further a man appeared before the Hokage. He had shoulder-length brown hair which hanged about his face with brown eyes. He wore a forehead protector like a bandanna, and a standard jonin outfit and a senbon in his mouth.

''Should I start with the finals, Hokage-sama?'' The man asked. The Sandaime nodded in approval. All the contestants were already present along with other important people. There was no need to keep the crowd waiting any longer. He was surprised though that Kakashi had brought Sasuke in time for the finals. He had thought that the Jonin would be late along with Sasuke that was why he had made preparations for Kakashi to be looked for if he did not appear in time. He could not be faulted about that given Kakashi's laid-back attitude.

Genma stepped forward and jumped at the middle on the arena just in front of the contestants. He smiled at them before looking back at the crowd, which had become settled.

''Welcome everyone,'' he said loudly for everyone to hear him, ''My name is Genma Shiranui, proctor of the finals. I would like to welcome you all to Konoha's chunin selection exam finals!'' Genma yelled out to the crowd who welcomed his words with cheers, ''We will now begin with the matches between the contestants that have worked hard and reached the finals of this tournament!'' Genma said and made his way over to the proctor's seat.

He looked at the contestants, ''Contestants of the first match, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji. The rest of the contestants please go back to the contestant's booth.'' the rest of the contestants left the arena. Sasuke shot Naruto a glance before leaving. He had trained hard and gotten strong during his time with Kakashi. He wanted to test the power he had attained against Naruto. Naruto was someone he was sure would give him a good fight. He had always wanted to fight Naruto. The exams had brought a good chance for him to fight the blond.

Genma looked between Naruto and Neji. Naruto still had his impassive expression Neji had the same expression as Naruto.

''The rules are the same as the ones that applied during the preliminaries,'' Genma said, ''First match of the chunin exam finals, Uzumaki Naruto Vs Hyuuga Neji,'' Genma yelled, ''Begin!'' He yelled motioning with his hands for the genins to begin the first match.

Naruto unfolded both his hands from his chest. Before the exams Zetsu had told him something he had taken into account. Genins did not give him a match. Only a select few could land a hit on him. He had always ended a match quickly because it annoyed him dragging himself against someone who can't land a hit on him. Zetsu had told him that if he did not want to get bored with fights he should at least 'play' with his opponents. Or he would get bored with most of the fights he fought.

Zetsu was basically telling him to give his opponents false hope and then crush that hope mercilessly. It was the same tactic Orochimaru used. But Orochimaru had a tendency to underestimate his opponents. It was a blunder he would hope to avoid given his current level of power.

The crowd began to mutter in anticipation. Some were picking who would win the match. Some were gunning for the Hyuuga prodigy, while a select few gunned for Naruto to win.

The air in the arena was thick as Neji stared at Naruto blankly. He was confident he could win the match. He was a prodigy after all and anyone who was fated against him was fated to lose.

A clone puffed into existence beside Naruto. He took a few steps back and set down Indian style with his eyes closed. Zetsu's advice weighed down a bit, but he would test his opponent's strength with a clone before fighting himself. He would rather not waste his energy fighting someone who could not defeat his clone. If Neji could defeat his clone easily he would have his fun just as Zetsu had advised him. Fighting Neji would give him a chance to experiment.

The clone Naruto had made was a solid clone. It had little chakra as Naruto did not want it to drag the fight for too long.

Neji seemed insulted by Naruto's actions. Anyone would have been insulted.

''What is this, aren't you going to fight me?'' Neji asked looking at the real Naruto.

Naruto stayed as he was while his clone spoke, ''I will...but that is if you defeat me. I'm just a clone, one hit and I will dispel.'' The clone stated impassively.

The clone's words drew question marks all over the stadium. People where wondering if it was just arrogance to say something like that. Neji was a prodigy and he could surely defeat a mere clone.

None felt more insulted than Neji. But the Hyuuga was able to contain his anger. He did not think that Naruto would have the guts to do something nor say something like that. He was not expecting it. But he would not be shown up by someone who was once considered a dead-last.

''Byakugan!'' Neji yelled as veins around his white eyes bulged.

Neji ran towards the real Naruto ignoring the clone. He could not waste time with the clone when he could fight the real person. What Naruto had done was an insult to his skills and his pride as a shinobi. To make him look like he was not worth an effort to fight and have him fight a clone instead was degrading. He could not allow anyone make him sink any lower than that.

'Naruto' stopped Neji in his tracks by standing in his way. If he wanted to make the real one fight he had to defeat the clone.

With a fighting style of the Hyuuga can, his speed would have to keep his distance because a single hit from Neji would destroy him. He was faster than Neji, that would prove to be an advantage to him, but he was not as fast as the real one. Fighting a Hyuuga was not a good thing for a clone. The chances of being destroy in a single direct hit where high.

Neji glared at the clone before raising his palm, which was glowing with chakra. He tried to hit the clone Naruto at the chest. The clone jumped back, dodging the blow. Neji wasted no time he dashed at the clown making it jump away from him again.

''Are you going to keep running away from me?'' Neji asked while getting into his clan's taijutsu style, The Gentile fist.

The clone responded by charging at Neji. It swung its right leg when it had reached the genin. Neji crouched down to avoid the kick and raised his palm to try hitting the clone. The clone disappeared suddenly and appeared behind Neji. Neji spun around quickly to block the oncoming punch sent towards him by the clone.

''The Byakugan gives me clear view of the battle field; I can see your attacks.'' Neji stated his hands still blocking Naruto's punch.

The clone responded by making a distance between itself and Neji. It looked at the real Naruto for a second. A second was what Neji needed as he suddenly appeared before the clone hitting it with his palm and sending a chakra pulse at the clone's chest making it disappear in a puff of smoke. But not before saying something more to itself than to Neji, ''I let my guard down.''

Neji smirked and turned around facing Naruto. Naruto was already standing up looking at Neji blankly.

''I have defeated your clone easily. It did nothing but delay the inevitable.'' Neji said arrogantly.

Naruto gave no response to Neji's words. Neji got back into his Taijutsu stance, ''Fate has deemed that you will lose against me. You were once considered a dead-last at the academy but now you are not. I don't believe that you are no longer a dead-last. You are still a dead-last running away from his fate, but no one can escape fate, as fate cannot be changed,'' Neji spoke impassively, ''What you are now is a mask hiding what you once were called at the academy, a dead-last. I will defeat you today and remove that mask exposing who you truly are, a dead-last.'' Neji said believing that he could defeat Naruto and remove his 'mask'.

Naruto responded by holding a single hand seal. **''Fire release: Great fire ball''** Naruto muttered as he breathed out a large fire ball that sped at Neji. The fireball was twice as big as that which Sasuke could make. Neji seeing that if the jutsu hit him he would be toast, literally, made a quick escape without getting hurt.

Sasuke had wide eyes upon seeing Naruto do his favorite Jutsu with one hand seal. It bothered him greatly that Naruto could do that jutsu better than him. He had never seen Naruto do that Jutsu, Naruto had never shown any skill to use ninjutsu before. Performing the fire ball jutsu with a single hand seal meant that he was accustomed to doing the jutsu and had mastered it. It infuriated him; he was an Uchiha, all Uchiha's were supposed to be masters of the great fire ball. The jutsu had originated from the Uchiha clan after all. It was unacceptable to see someone do the jutsu better than he could.

'So he is going to reveal his true power' The Sandaime thought with a smile. He too was a bit surprised that Naruto could perform the fireball Jutsu with a single hand seal. It would not have been surprising had it been an Uchiha. Uchiha clan had a natural affinity to fire release so it would not be surprising.

''This is certainly turning out to be interesting. I heard that Uzumaki did not display any skill in Ninjutsu. But seeing him perform a jutsu like that makes me curious.'' The 'Kazekage 'said to the Hokage curiosity dripping from his tone. He was wondering why Naruto did not use any jutsu at the forest of death.

Both Jiraiya and the Hokage nodded but offered no words. They just wanted to watch what Naruto could do.

Back at the fight

After dodging the fire ball Neji appeared several feet away from the Jutsu. Naruto suddenly appeared before Neji. Neji was shocked as he was caught off guard. He had not been expecting Naruto to attack him after sending the fireball jutsu at him. He had not even seen Naruto move.

''You are really annoying when you start talking.'' Naruto stated impassively. Neji had been expecting him to attack him given that he had been caught off guard. If Naruto had attacked when he had appeared before him he would have hit him since he was in no position to defend. He was not a bit curious as to why Naruto did not try to land a blow on him.

Neji glared at Naruto for saying he was annoying. He smirked, ''You had an opportunity to let a hit on me, but you did not use it. Such an opportunity will not come again, and I will make you regret it.'' Neji said impassively.

His palm rushed at Naruto's left shoulder. Naruto shifted aside to avoid Neji's hit. Looking at Neji's face he was positive that Neji was not going to stop with his attacks. Neji tried hitting his right shoulder. Naruto dodged forcing Neji to try to hit another target. Naruto dodged all of the attacks while his eyes were firmly on Neji. He might not have worked on his speed before the finals, but he was still fast. His speed was the reason Neji could not land a hit on him.

Naruto jumped back creating a distance between himself and Neji. He was doing his best to avoid being hit by Neji's attacks. It would be rather troubling if he were to have his chakra paths blocked. Neji's strikes aimed at blocking his chakra paths. If his chakra paths where blocked it would make him immobile. But at least for him for moment, having his chakra paths blocked was something he could deal with.

Neji ran at Naruto at a faster speed than before. His hands were still glowing with light blue chakra. To his shock Naruto's hands began to glow with chakra. One had to have good chakra control to be able to do what Naruto had done. Neji had been moving at a faster speed than Naruto had thought he would. But it did not mean that he could not handle it.

Naruto blocked Neji's attempt to hit him at the chest with his hand. It was laced with chakra to prevent its chakra pathway from being blocked.

Naruto continued on to block Neji's attacks for 4 minutes straight. He only received two hits on both his shoulders but he dealt with it quickly by forcing chakra to pass through the blocked pathway. It was a rather uncomfortable process. But other than that he had no injuries or bruises. Neji on the other hand was slightly worn out. He was also frustrated because he had failed to give Naruto an injury. All his attempts to hit Naruto had been fruitless.

Naruto suddenly gripped Neji's right hand. He held it tightly making Neji wince. Naruto spun around along with Neji. Neji spun around in air while his hand was held by Naruto. He knew that Naruto was going to release the hold on his hand. But if Naruto did that it would send him flying.

Naruto let go of Neji's hand. But before Neji was thrown away from him he hit Naruto's right hand making in immobile. Neji was sent crashing towards the wall. He recovered quickly, but his body slightly bruised and his clothes slightly tattered. He got up and looked at Naruto. His eyes could see that Naruto's hand was immobile because he had blocked its chakra pathways.

''Your right hand is immobile now. With only one usable hand left I will easily remove that 'mask' you wear.'' Neji said with a smirk.

Crowd

Sakura looked down at the stadium. Beside her where Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Ino, Tenten and the three jonin-sensei's of team 7,8, 10, and team Gai, Hatake Kakashi, Yuhi Kurenai, Asuma Sarutobi, and Maito Gai.

''Doesn't Neji realize that Naruto is not wearing a mask and the dead-last was the mask?'' Sakura asked particularly to no one.

''I don't think he does.'' Ino replied her eyes firmly at the battlefield.

The jonin just continued watching, each with different thoughts in their heads. Kakashi was wondering about something. Naruto did not seem to be fighting the way he usually did. Normally Neji would have been lying somewhere with a broken body at this given. But the fight hand been going on for a while and still Naruto had not land a hit on Neji. To trained eyes one could tell that it was not because he could not, but because he did not want to.

Kurenai saw Kakashi's thoughtful expression, ''What is it Kakashi?''

''Something seems to be wrong here. Naruto is stronger than Neji that much I know, but why he is not ending the fight is making me curious. I have watched Naruto fight many times and he never plays when he is fighting someone with genin strength.'' Kakashi replied.

Kiba responded before Kurenai could respond, ''What are you talking about Kakashi-sensei? Can't you see that Neji has Naruto on the defensive?'' He said. After Naruto had humiliated him at the preliminaries he had learned to resent the blond. Naruto had beaten him like he was a fly.

Gai shook his head, ''Naruto seems to be holding back for some reason. He is on the defensive because he wants to not because Neji is forcing him.'' Gai stated observing the fight.

''Why? He did not seem to be capable of holding back at the preliminaries.'' Kurenai asked.

''It is most likely he is just playing with Neji. But that would be out of character for him,'' Kakashi said, ''Let's just watch and see what happens.'' He said getting the jonins to nod in agreement.

Back to the fight

Naruto sighed inwardly and forced chakra on his right hand to open up the blocked chakra pathways. He was better at controlling his chakra because of his Senju DNA. Senju were known to have had perfect control over their chakra. It was easy to unblock his chakra pathways.

He disappeared and appeared in front of Neji. He did not attack just as he did last time. Neji smirked as he stared at Naruto. He would make the blond rue his choice of not attacking him while he could. ''You are within my range.'' Neji stated.

**''Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms,**'' Neji said his fingers going at Naruto's body, ''Two palms,'' Neji said as his hands hit Naruto, ''Four palms,'' Four hits at Naruto's shoulders blocking his tenketsu points. He hit Naruto with his strikes until he reached 64 strikes.

Naruto had taken each strike without trying to block. Remarkably he was still standing, only his shoulders where slumped and his eyes were staring down at the ground.

''I have hit you with sixty-four strikes. Your body should not be able to move, I suggest you stay down and accept what fate has decided,'' Neji said, ''You where fated to lose this match and thus you have lost.''

Naruto's eyes left the ground and travelled towards Neji.

Neji spoke again seeing Naruto look at him, ''Give up, you have no power to defeat me.'' Neji said believing that his opponent was weaker than him.

''It was not fate that you hit me,'' Naruto corrected, ''You only hit me, because I wanted you to as I wanted to see what would happen if your technique hit me.''

''...''

The whole stadium was silenced by Naruto's proclamation. Some hung their mouths open while others blinked several times and a few just raised their brows. It was just unbelievable to them no one would dare take on those hits just to see what would happen. That would be unless he was shot of a few brain cells.

''You are lying. Even if you let yourself be hit the damage is done. I can see your tenketsu points are blocked with my eyes.'' Neji said not believing that Naruto had let himself be hit.

Naruto released a wave of chakra forcing his tenketsu points to open. The chakra he released picked up debris around him for a moment before the dust cleared. Naruto stood still his tenketsu points now opened with his eyes fixed on Neji.

Naruto closed his eyes and opened them revealing a fully matured Sharingan. A Sharingan he had managed to keep hidden from everyone within the village. Well the crowd could only see his left eye as his right was hidden by his hair.

Everyone within the stadium was shocked. In everyone's wildest dreams they had never imagined Naruto with a Sharingan, the doujutsu of the Uchiha clan. It was a sight that many had never expected to see. Some did not actually care they just wanted to see a good fight. Visitors from other villages where greatly surprised as they had heard that the Uchiha clan was massacred. Only a few outside of Konoha knew that there was one survivor, Uchiha Sasuke.

While others where shocked, Sasuke was both shocked and infuriated. Naruto was no Uchiha it meant that if Naruto had the sharingan it had to have been implanted. He refused to accept people who implanted his clan's doujutsu on themselves. It was different with Kakashi because Kakashi had his given to him by his dying friend. He did not know where Naruto got his.

''Naruto'' Sasuke growled to himself with his Sharingan activated. Unlike Naruto's his had yet to fully mature, it only had two tomoes in each eye. Everyone beside him could see he was shaking in anger.

Sasuke was about to storm into the battlefield and demand answers from Naruto but Shikamaru quickly restrained the young Uchiha with his Shadows. He was also curious but storming in there would only disturb Naruto's match. He was not sure if Naruto would welcome someone disturbing his match.

''Let go of me Shikamaru!'' Sasuke yelled trying to break free from his restrains.

''This is troublesome,'' Shikamaru said his hands held together as he did not let loose of his jutsu, ''Calm down Sasuke, Naruto will come back here after his match. You will get to question him then.''

''No I want answers now!'' Sasuke yelled out again. The situation was becoming somewhat comical as the other participants where snickering at Sasuke's frustrations.

Kakashi seemed to have known what was happening as he suddenly appeared in the contestant's booth. He had figured that Sasuke would overreact seeing Naruto wield a Sharingan. Kakashi touched Sasuke's shoulder, ''Calm down Sasuke, I'm sure Naruto has a good explanation.'' He tried calming his student.

Sasuke glared at Kakashi but he was no longer trying to escape from his restrains, ''Did you know?'' He demanded.

''No'' Kakashi replied as he shook his head.

Sasuke said nothing, his eyes travelled back to Naruto as he settled for glaring at the blond.

Kage booth

The Kazekage had wide eyes, his eyes where bigger than the Hokage's, who also had wide eyes. It was unbelievable that Naruto had the sharingan. He quickly got over his shock and laughed maniacally inwardly. Naruto was proving to be quite an interesting person.

The Sandaime and Jiraiya where obviously shocked as everyone else. They had not even suspected that Naruto could have the Uchiha clan Doujutsu. The Sandaime could not believe that Naruto had hid something that from him and from the whole village.

''I thought there was only one survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre Hokage-dono.'' The Kazekage spoke snapping the Sandaime out of his thoughts.

''There is only one survivor.'' The Hokage replied with his eyes firmly placed on Naruto.

''Then how come Naruto has the Sharingan?''

''I don't know, I don't really know.'' The Sandaime Hokage replied shaking his head. Anyone could see that he was being honest. The Kazekage decided to drop it seeing that the Hokage knew nothing.

Back to the fight

Naruto ran at Neji at jonin level speed. He reached the genin and swung his right leg high trying to kick Neji at his temple. Neji crossed both his hands and blocked the kick. The kick had much power to send any genin flying, but Neji was not just any genin. He was only pushed back a bit, but told himself never to try and block another kick from Naruto.

Naruto brought his feet down and raised his left leg waist level high. He tried kicking Neji at his waist but Neji jumped back to avoid being hit. Naruto stopped with his attacks for a moment and stood still as if he was strategizing.

The crowd had now gotten over their shock and where watching the fight with anticipation. It was now proving to be interesting as Naruto was now attacking Neji. Neji seemed to be blocking Naruto's attempts.

Neji ran at Naruto with his right arm stretched forward. He tried hitting Naruto's chest but Naruto side stepped the attack and gripped Neji's arm. Neji swung his free arm trying to hit Naruto. His attempt forced Naruto to let go of his arm and jump back.

Naruto dashed towards Neji and seemed to passing him. But he suddenly spun around with his leg swinging at Neji. Naruto kicked Neji on his face sending the Genin flying away. Neji recovered quickly by flipping in middair. But when he landed down the ground a hard kick to the chest welcomed him and sent him crashing towards the wall.

''Gah!'' Neji grunted as he hit the wall hard creating a dent.

Naruto gave the Genin an opportunity to recover. The results would be the same regardless of what action he took.

Neji got up and glared at Naruto. Naruto hit as hard as Lee. But Lee hit harder because of the weights on his legs. He rushed at Naruto again but this time with both his hands stretched forward. Hit tried hitting Naruto, but Naruto jumped back. He could predict Neji's moves before they reached him. And because he was faster than Neji it became impossible for Neji to hit him.

Naruto blurred out of sight and appeared before Neji. With almost 360 degree view of the battlefield Neji was able to see Naruto. He turned around quickly but was unable to block or dodge a kick to his chest. The kick connected with Neji's chest and sent him flying. Naruto appeared above Neji while he was still in air and brought his hands together. He smacked the genin down the ground. Neji was sent crashing down like a bullet. He hit the ground hard and created a crater.

Neji's crash created debris where he had crashed. Remarkably when the debris cleared Neji was still standing but his body was bruised and he was bleeding albeit not profusely. He seemed to be out of breath as he was breathing heavily. He did not like where things were going but he refused to be beat. Fate could not be changed. Naruto had been fated to be defeated by him and he would make sure of that.

Naruto rushed at Neji and attempted to gut him. Neji dodged the attempt albeit barely. He was not given time to catch the breath that was escaping him as Naruto appeared in front of him and kneed him on the gut. Neji coughed bodily fluids while clutching his stomach in pain.

The crowd was cheering seeing the turnaround of events.

Naruto stared down at Neji, who was now on his knees still clutching his stomach, ''There is no such thing as fate. Fate is something you created on your own ideals to escape from your miseries.'' Naruto said his tone and facial expression never changing.

Neji stopped clutching his stomach and glared at Naruto, ''You know nothing about misery!'' He spat, ''My life has been fated to become a servant to the main branch. As far as I could remember I have been branded with this,'' Neji said removing his forehead protector. There was a seal on his forehead Naruto knew what it was, ''It's the caged bird seal; I will live with it and die with it that is my fate. And your fate is to lose to me.'' Neji said as he tried hitting Naruto in anger.

Naruto punched Neji on his face sending him flying away from him. Neji winced as he felt the pain the punch inflicted on his body. He hit the ground and gathered his strength to get up. He was still breathing heavily and was now bleeding from his mouth. Despite his condition he got into his taijutsu stance signifying that he could still fight.

Naruto ran towards Neji but when he reached Neji he sensed a buildup of chakra from Neji. He did not stop trying to kick Neji though.

**''Kaiten!''** Neji yelled as he began to spin furiously and while he released chakra from his tenketsu points. The chakra he released created a dome of chakra that rotated around him at a fast speed.

Naruto's foot hit the spinning chakra and was sent back. He flipped in midair and landed down the ground.

''That was unexpected.'' He said to himself.

Neji stopped spinning releasing his defense jutsu. He smirked at Naruto, ''This is my Ultimate jutsu, the ultimate defense jutsu. With this you cannot touch me anymore.'' he said confidently.

Those of the Hyuuga clan had wide eyes seeing Neji perform the Kaiten. It was a defense jutsu only taught to the skilled members of the main branch. For Neji to learn the jutsu on his own only proved that he was truly a genius. No one could doubt that he was indeed a prodigy of the Hyuuga clan. But despite his skill he was facing someone who seemed to be beyond his level.

''Ultimate defense you say,'' Naruto said, ''Shall we test that?'' The way Naruto spoke made Neji wish he did not say the **Kaiten** was an ultimate defense.

Naruto did a single hand seal, **''Fire release: Great Fireball''** Another large fireball sped towards Neji faster than the first one. It was just as big as the first. Due to Neji's current condition he could not escape the jutsu by running away from it. Naruto was aware of that. The only way for Neji to defend himself was to use his **Kaiten.**

Neji saw the Fireball coming towards him. **''Kaiten!''** He yelled as he activated his defense technique again.

Both techniques clashed but the **Kaiten** held on. Naruto ended his jutsu allowing Neji to do the same. Neji was breathing heavier than before and was barely standing. **The Kaiten** was taking a toll on him.

The **Kaiten** had passed Naruto's first test, but barely.

Naruto held another single hand seal again readying for another Jutsu.

**Fire style: Dragon Flame Caterwaul!**

Naruto yelled as five small flame fish like creatures with two large fangs raced at Neji in five different directions. It was a jutsu Naruto had learned from Madara. All creatures seek out their targets till they hit. The only way to stop them was to make them hit something.

Neji gathered his remaining chakra and called upon the Kaiten again. One by one the flame dragons hit Neji's defense. When each hit it exploded and the fire it created became one with Neji's rotating dome of chakra.

Neji realized this when he felt the heat rise up and stopped spinning to avoid being burned to death by his own Jutsu. But he did not get away without suffering slight burns on his clothes and skin. Neji fell on his knees while sweating and breathing heavily. The heat that had surrounded was too intense for him. His chakra was also spent.

'It is not a perfect defense' thought Naruto to himself.

He decided to try another Jutsu. He had yet to try it while fighting with someone other than his clones. Neji provided him the opportunity to test the jutsu.

He flashed through several hand seals and expanded large amounts of chakra...well to others who did not have much chakra as Naruto had.

**''Fire Style: Majestic Flame Destroyer!**''

Naruto breathed amount an unimaginable wave of flames that covered the whole space in front of him reaching the walls of the arena in width. The wave of flames went straight at Neji who had wide eyes like everyone inside the stadium. Only the Sandaime had seen a Fire Jutsu that big. Despite it being big it was not as big enough for Naruto's liking. Still the flames were powerful enough to incarnate everything they touched.

The flames burned everything on their path as they made their way towards Neji's position. The heat of the flames was too intense as everyone close to the battle field felt the heat. Neji began to fear for his life he could no longer do the Kaiten. He also could not escape to anywhere; the flames had blocked each path he could take. Backwards was the wall, he could not go anywhere. He closed his eyes as the flames reached him.

Naruto ended his Jutsu and narrowed his eyes behind him.

Genma was holding Neji with both his arms. He had saved the genin but at some cost. His upper right side of his body was burned by the flames. He knew that if he had allowed Neji to be hit the flames, the flames would have burned him to ashes. He was the proctor and could not allow necessary deaths to occur while he watch1ed.

Neji was now unconscious, it was because of chakra exhaustion and some shock. He had thought he was going to die.

Genma placed Neji down the ground and ignored his burns. He looked at Naruto, who was still in the same position as he was. He had yet to move, only his eyes narrowed at Genma. Genma let loose of a sigh of release after a few moments. When the flames hit him he thought he too was going to die. But he had made it. It looked like Naruto was trying to kill his fellow genin.

''First match of the chunin exam finals is over...'' Genma trailed off remembering that the Sandaime had said he would announce the winner of this match. He looked at the Sandaime nodding for him to speak.

The Sandaime stepped forward and cleared his throat. He was going to say something important. The crowd had already been shocked once but he had to do it for the sake of the village.

Naruto turned around he was the victor of the match. His Sharingan was still activated as he walked towards the contestant's booth. No one was cheering; the stadium was just full of mummers.

''Winner of the first mach Namikaze Naruto!'' The Sandaime said in a loud voice.

Naruto stopped walking and narrowed his eyes at the Sandaime. His Sharingan morphed into its Mangekyou form for a second before returning back to normal.

That was something he was not expecting the Sandaime to say. He had figured the old man would eventually announce his other heritage to Konoha but did not think he would do it any time soon. The Sandaime might have done it to free himself from the secret but there was another ulterior motive, Naruto knew that. When Konoha came to accept that he was indeed the son of the Yondaime Hokage they would start to love him. When loved by the villagers he would have no reason to abandon the village.

''WHAAT!'' Some yelled out in disbelieve upon hearing that Naruto was a Namikaze. The thought that he wielded the Sharingan had escaped their minds. Others stared at Naruto with wide eyes cursing themselves for not seeing it. There was only one person to have had bright blond hair and blue eyes, The Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Naruto was like a chibi Minato and yet they could not see it. It would now explain why the Yondaime had chosen Naruto as the Jinchuriku of the Kyuubi.

The majority of people thinking those thoughts where the ones to have never hated Naruto. While those few that still hated him refused to believe it. Despite their refusal to believe one cold not deny the resemblance.

One woman stood up from her seat and clapped her hands. Soon another person joined her; they were followed by almost everyone at the stadium.

Naruto walked away towards the contestants' booth. The only reaction he gave towards the reaction of the crowd was a raised brow.

After Naruto had reached the contestants booth the clapping of hands and cheers where replaced by mummers. Naruto stopped walking when he saw Sasuke in his way with a death glare. Naruto brushed aside the glare and decided to just walk past Sasuke. Sasuke was not going to let him off without getting answers he needed.

''Naruto,'' Sasuke called out stepping in front of Naruto again, ''Where did you get that Sharingan?'' Sasuke demanded.

Naruto's face remained impassive, ''How did you get your Sharingan, Sasuke?'' Naruto replied with a question.

Sasuke in his current mindset did not fully understand Naruto's question, ''Answer me Naruto!'' Sasuke yelled his death glare intensifying.

''I just did.'' Naruto responded nonchalantly.

Shikamaru spoke before someone got hurt, ''Calm down Sasuke,'' Shikamaru said in his usual bored town, ''Naruto answered your question. He asked you how you got your Sharingan. The answer is you awakened it like any other Uchiha. What Naruto is saying is that he awakened his Sharingan, that's how he got it. But leads to more troublesome questions.'' Shikamaru spoke while other contestants watched on.

''Awoke? How? You are not an Uchiha. The Hokage just said you are a Namikaze not Uchiha.'' Sasuke said while still glaring at Naruto.

Naruto had no time to play the interrogee with Sasuke, ''Believe what you will, but my eyes were not implanted,'' he said, ''Now then, get out of my way or I will make you.'' His face remained impassive but the tone he used could send chills to anyone. Sasuke stepped aside and allowed Naruto to pass. Naruto wanted to watch the next match.

Sasuke looked away from Naruto emotions welling on his features as thoughts ran rampant within his head. Naruto had just said his Sharingan was not implanted meaning he had to have Uchiha blood running through his veins. His father was not an Uchiha which if he truly had Uchiha DNA in his body he got it from his mother. Still the thought of Naruto being an Uchiha brought him a lot of emotions.

Temari eyed Naruto with thoughts running through her head. Being the son of the Yondaime Hokage made Naruto someone like royalty. But judging from what she had seen off him so far he did not seem to act like one nor tried grabbing people's attention because he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage. In fact he looked distant, unattached to anything as if he did not care about anything else around him.

Kage booth

''Well that was certainly interesting, the match itself rather than the secret you have just revealed Hokage-dono.'' The 'Kazekage' spoke clearly interested. Naruto possessed far greater skill than he let people believe. His interest in Naruto had surely grown.

The Sandaime nodded, the match was truly interesting. It was not only the fight but the things that were revealed during the match.

''You certainly have a skilled genin in Naruto, Hokage-done.'' The 'Kazekage' said again honestly.

The Hokage smiled, Naruto was certainly interesting. Naruto did fire style jutsu at a higher level. He was sure Naruto would give Itachi a run for his money when it came to fire style jutsu.

''He is truly skilled.'' He finally said.

"I'm surprised that you could hide something like this from the village, though judging from Naruto's reaction he already knew of it and did not seem to happy that you announced his heritage." The 'Kazekage' said trying to act as normal as possible. He already knew that Naruto was the son of the famed Yellow Flash, the man who stood in his way of becoming Hokage.

Sarutobi did not respond he had his reasons for keeping the truth away from Konoha. He did not have to explain his actions to another Kage of another village.

''I believe you now sensei, he truly is skilled just like his father,'' Jiraiya spoke; ''Now I have to force him to become my apprentice given his skills.'' Jiraiya said with a grin.

Sarutobi responded by chuckling slightly at Jiraiya's words. The sannin had not entirely believed that Naruto was a skilled and capable shinobi. He had said he would believe if he saw with his own eyes and now he had seen with his own eyes. Naruto was skilled enough to be called a prodigy. He could not miss the opportunity to be a sensei to someone like Naruto. He put much effort into making Naruto his apprentice.

**Well done with this chapter. The next one which will conclude the chunin exams will probably be updated within a few days. **

**Naruto doesn't have EMS, but he will get it. I was planning on giving Naruto Madara's original eyes, the ones he wielded before he took his brothers eyes to gain the EMS. And Shadow clones he will use them in the next chapters.**

**Naruto will get to train before Tobi begins with his plans. How he will leave without Jiraiya? That will be easy won't tell though. **

**I think I have addressed everything.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow, I have to say I never thought that this story would manage to attract more than 470 followers. With so many followers and the wonderful reviews this story has received so far, I am inspired to continue working on it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. **

Chapter 7

Genma looked at the burns on his body and winced remembering how it hurt when he got burned. He looked at the crowd and smiled, ''Second match of the chunin exam finals, Subaku no Gaara Vs Rock Lee!'' Genma said aloud. Both contestants made their way to the battle ground.

Genma looked between Lee and Gaara he could tell that the two were going to give the crowd a good match, ''Are both fighters ready?'' He asked earning a nod from Lee while Gaara gave no response his face just remained emotionless, ''Begin!'' He yelled and jumped to his seat where a medic was waiting for him to take care of his burns.

One could tell Gaara was a bit excited about the match because the moment Genma said the match could begin sand shot out from his gourd and swirled around him.

Lee studied his opponent for a moment. Gai had told him that his opponent was dangerous and he should be careful. He had also been told to take off his weights should the situation require him to do so. He did not have to ask for permission to take off his weights this time.

Lee got into his Taijutsu stance and motioned for Gaara to come at him with his right hand. Gaara wasted no time as his said shot towards Lee at fast speeds. Lee jumped back to avoid the sand. When he landed on the ground the sand was waiting for him. He was forced to use his great reflexes to avoid the sand from catching him.

Gai had warned him to avoid being caught by the sand at all costs.

Lee rushed at Gaara, who had been in the same position since the match began. He attacked Gaara on his left side by attempting to kick him. Sand blocked Lee's foot preventing him from hitting Gaara. Lee blurred to Gaara's right attempted to kick the sand genin again. The sand protected Gaara, again, forcing Lee to jump back.

Sand shot towards Lee at a fast pace. Lee readied himself and when the sand reached him and attempted to kick it away. A mistake on his part as a part of the sand was blown away by the force of his kick and a part was not, the part that remained almost wrapped itself around his leg. He did enough to blur away from sight.

Lee landed on the ground and studied Gaara. The Sand made it difficult for him to hit his opponent. He needed speed to bypass the defense.

Lee ran towards Gaara with a plan in thought. He appeared in front of Gaara looking as if he wanted to punch the genin. Gaara's sand tried to wrap itself around Lee, only for Lee to disappear and appear behind Gaara. Lee swung his leg attempting to kick Gaara from behind. But just as he was about to land a hit the sand appeared and blocked his kick.

Lee jumped away from Gaara. Bypassing Gaara's sand was proving to be harder than he had thought it would be at his current speed level.

The crowd was cheering as the fight was certainly entertaining even when none had landed a hit on one another.

At the contestant's booth, Kankuro had a wide smile admiring Gaara's sand. No one had ever landed a hit on Gaara. Gaara was untouchable with his sand and there was no way Lee would be able to touch Gaara...well that was according to him.

Lee appeared in front of Gaara and attempted to punch Gaara with the strongest punch he could master. The sand tried to block his punch but the punch broke through. Just as it was about to make contact with Gaara another wave of sand appeared in its path and this time blocked Lee's punch.

Lee did not stop with just a powerful punch. He spun around swinging his leg bringing forth his most powerful kick. Gaara brought forward his sand to block the kick. But the sand did not stand a chance against the power behind Lee's kick. Lee's foot marched towards Gaara's face but again just as it was about to hit more sand blocked its path. But the results where different this time, even the sand shielding Gaara, he was sent flying away towards the wall. Gaara's sand created a cushion before he hit the wall.

Gaara smiled maniacally at Lee and walked a bit towards Lee before he stopped. He moved his sand with his hand this time. When he was moving it with his hands it was moving at a faster speed than before.

A wave of sand almost wrapped Lee from behind but Lee disappeared from sight dodging the sand, albeit barely.

Lee rushed at Gaara dodging waves of sand that where trying to wrap themselves on him. Lee dodged each sand attack skillfully. When he reached Gaara he was unable to attack the jinchuriku as he found large amounts of sand waiting for him. Lee quickly disappeared from view avoiding the sand.

If Lee was going to break through Gaara's defense he would have to step up his game. Lee looked at his sensei as if asking for permission. Gai nodded making Lee smile. Despite Gai having already giving him permission to take off his weights during his fight it felt right asking for permission again.

He took of the weights on his legs and held them with both his hands. Gaara only raised an eye brow wondering what his opponent was up to. Lee let go of the weights.

Boom

They hit the ground and shook the stadium slightly. The weights created two craters on the battlefield. Almost everyone had wide eyes at the effects of Lee's weights. It was just unimaginable how a young lad like Lee could be able to wear such heavy weights and still move as fast as he had been moving so far in his match against Gaara. Gai just smiled proudly at his student. It was not easy for Lee to be able to wear such heavy weights but through hard work they did it. It was his efforts along with Lee's dedication to being the best Taijutsu user that made Lee became what he was today, a shinobi he was proud to call his student.

Lee took a taijutsu stance with a serious expression on his face.

Lee vanished from his spot. Only a select few saw him move. The others just blinked a few times looking around the battlefield. Their efforts were rewarded as Lee appeared behind Gaara. Gaara turned around with wide eyes showing his shock at Lee's speed. Lee swung his right leg at Gaara. Gaara's sand was unable to react fast enough to leap into his defense. Lee's kick connected with Gaara's face.

Gaara was sent flying but before he could hit the walls Lee appeared above him facing down and kicked him hard on the face. Gaara crashed down the ground creating a crater.

Lee landed on the ground gracefully and waited for his opponent to recover. Gaara stood up from the crater and brushed his fingers against his mouth. He looked at his fingers and saw blood.

To some it was most shocking because none had ever seen Gaara bleed before. It was shocking to see that someone had the speed to bypass through Gaara's sand and hurt Gaara. Not even jonins had been unable to hurt Gaara but a genin from Konoha had just done it. It was unbelievable.

Gaara smiled maliciously, ''Blood, my blood,'' He said to himself then looked back at Lee, ''Mother wants your blood,'' Gaara said maliciously, ''I must feed on your blood to prove my existence and erase yours.''

Lee looked at Gaara showing a bit of confusion but he later shrugged it off and dashed towards Gaara. Only small gusts of winds could be seen upon where he had been standing. A large wall of sand appeared in front of him blocking his path. Lee jumped up passing the wall. While he was still in air he began to rotate furiously towards Gaara.

**''Konoha Senpuu**!'' Lee yelled as he delivered a spinning kick to Gaara. Gaara's sand came to the rescue and blocked Lee's kick. Lee spun around and attempted to kick Gaara with his other leg but the sand blocked his kick again. Lee flashed out of sight and appeared behind Gaara. He swung his right hand and delivered a punch at Gaara's face. Gaara had been unable to block due to the speed on the attack. With his full speed Lee was able to bypass Gaara's defense. The punch sent him flying but Gaara quickly recovered and landed down the ground gracefully.

Lee watched with wide eyes as sand around Gaara's face began to peel off. Gaara's thin layer of sand reformed again on his skin. It was his secondary defense mechanism. Lee gritted his teeth in frustrations. So far he had not been able to damage Gaara. It was like all his efforts where pointless. To win he had to risky measures.

Lee suddenly blurred out of sight. He was running at his speed's peak. Lee kicked Gaara into air and used shadow of the Dancing leaf to get behind Gaara while still in flight. He let loose of his bandages and wrapped it around Gaara restraining him as gravity began to pull them down.

''This should end the match!'' Lee exclaimed confidently. He and Gaara began to rotate furiously while they fell down the grown as a spinning vortex. Gaara hit the ground head first. Lee was also hurt as the technique was a double edged sword. But Lee being the user of the technique received less damage than his opponent. Lee panted as he watched the debris where Gaara was lying.

The crowd began to cheer, applauding the technique and also thinking that the match was over. But everyone's celebrations where cut shot as Gaara let out a maniacal laughter.

Lee could not believe what his eyes were showing him as he watched Gaara stumbled up and stood up with a maniacal grin, and blood dripping from his mouth. His sand swirled furiously around him, ''I must really drink your blood mother wants it.''

Large torrents of sand began to fire at Lee mercilessly. Lee did his best to dodge all of the attacks. But keeping up with Gaara's sand was tiring him. Gaara was sending the sand at Lee tirelessly without even taking a break. With the smile on his face it was obvious that he wanted to crush Lee with his sand.

Lee found himself backed against the arena's battle floor. He was left to only think of defense as Gaara at been attacking him with his sand furiously. A wave of sand appeared in front him stretched as if it was welcoming him for an embrace. Gaara grinned and made a fist encasing the sand around Lee.

''Subaku Kyuu!'' Gaara said as his said seemingly wrapped itself around Lee. Nothing happened there was no blood that fell rained down the ground. Gaara was aware that he did not catch Lee because he did not feel him on his sand.

Lee appeared a few feet away from his previous position. Some let out a sigh of relief seeing that the match was not over.

''It seems that I cannot defeat as I am,'' Lee said seriously looking at Gaara, ''Then I must...'' He trailed off, ''First Gate! Gate of opening!'' Lee yelled as the aura around him began to change, ''Second Gate! Gate of Healing!'' His skin began to change its normal color, ''Third Gate! Gate of Life, Fourth Gate! Gate of Pain, Fifth Gate! Gate of Limit!'' Lee yelled. He was surrounded by a blue aura and veins around his body had bulged. Gust of winds picked up where Lee was standing.

The crowd was awed at the power Lee was emitting. It was defiantly not the power of your normal genin.

''This will surely end it!'' He said and disappeared.

Only jonins were able to follow his movements. Others did not see him move. Naruto was able to see him he had his Sharingan activated; he did not deactivate it after his match with Neji.

The next thing the crowd was Gaara in flight. Lee was striking him at inhuman speeds. It gave Gaara no chance to defend himself. Lee suddenly appeared above Gaara, **''Reverse Lotus!**'' He yelled as he hit Gaara with a final powerful punch and kick at the same time. Gaara was sent crashing down like a bullet. He hit the ground creating a large crater. Some with experienced eyes saw that Gaara's gourd turned into sand and created a sand cushion before he hit the ground.

Lee landed at the unwelcoming ground harshly due to the use of his technique. He had already closed his gates as he could no longer contain them. His body was bruised and his clothes where tattered. His breathing was labored and he was on his knees as he was unable to stand. The technique used too much power at once and left him without strength. It was why he used it as a last resort.

The crowd cheered gracefully at the power of Lee's attack. They thought that it was surely over, as they believed that no one could stand again after crashing down the way Gaara did.

The dust cleared revealing Gaara lying down in a crater. Sand was peeling of his skin and more blood continued to drip from his mouth. His sand had absorbed much of the damage he could have suffered.

**''Sand Coffin**!'' Gaara said with his hand raised while he was still lying down. Lee found himself at the mercy of Gaara's sand. He tried to escape but his muscles were torn apart and he was out of strength because he had opened Five Gates and used Reverse Lotus. The sand caught Lee's left leg and Hand crashing them.

''Arg!'' Lee screamed in pain as Gaara's sand crushed his hand and leg. He landed on the ground harshly.

Gaara got to his feet slowly looking slightly worn out but had no significant damage on his body. Gaara chuckled darkly, ''Mother will now have your now have your blood!'' He yelled like a crazed person.

Gaara's sand short towards an immobile Lee. Guy tensed knowing that Lee would surely die if Gaara caught him with his sand. In his condition, Lee could not do anything it was now up to him as a loving sensei to protect his student.

He rushed to the stadium to save Lee. He was not alone a bandaged Genma had the same thoughts as him. Guy was able to get to Lee before Gaara's sand. He took Lee out of the path of the sand while Genma appeared before Gaara.

''This match is over.'' He said sternly.

Gaara ignored him and looked over to Guy and Lee, ''Why did you save him?'' He asked his features having returned to his emotionless and cold facade.

''He is my student, my pride and joy.'' Guy replied almost breaking into tears as he walked away taking Lee to the medics. Lee had pushed himself too far. Opening the Gates did damage to his body and Gaara's last attack did further damage, he feared the worst looking at his unconscious student, who had passed out because of pain that had gripped him.

Genma looked at the murmuring crowd, ''Winner, Subaku no Gaara!''

The crowd applauded they had witnessed a truly great match. Gaara silently made his way back to the contestant's booth. He did not need a medic, as he was fine.

Naruto was somewhat pleased with what he had seen. Both Gaara and Lee where capable genins. Lee had reached an amazing feat. To be able to compete with a jinchuriku at the level he was. The boy was truly something, possibly the best genin in terms of hard work and dedication.

''Will Subaku no Kankuro and Uchiha Sasuke step forward please!'' Genma called out.

Sasuke smiled excitedly and went into the arena. He was finally going to test himself against capable opponents. After watching Gaara fight, he now wanted to him also.

Kankuro stepped forward but stopped before reaching the middle of the arena, ''Proctor, I forfeit.''

His words where welcomed with boos all over the stadium. Kankuro seemed not to care about the jeers. The crowd had been waiting for Sasuke to fight. Some had come to the finals just to watch the only survivor of the Uchiha clan. With Kankuro giving up they were being denied an opportunity to see Sasuke fight and observe what he was capable of. Many saw Sasuke as a genius as he was the best student at everything he did when he was still at the academy.

Genma looked at Kankuro without interest. He thought that if he did not w he should have never come to the stadium.

Sasuke was now fuming. He wanted to fight and would do anything to get that opportunity. He turned and stared at Kankuro with his Sharingan eyes, ''Why? Are you afraid of me?'' Sasuke said with a smirk trying to get Kankuro to reconsider his decision.

The crowd seemed to think the same way as Sasuke. However, it had no effect on Kankuro. He turned around and walked away.

Sasuke gritted his teeth seeing that his attempt had failed. He held out his right hand and lightning began to sparkle on his palm. No sooner than later, a sound of chirping birds rang throughout the stadium.

Jonins recognized Sasuke's jutsu as Kakashi's trademark assassination jutsu.

**''Chidori!**'' Sasuke yelled as he ran towards Kankuro. If Kankuro did not want to fight he would force him to. Many did not see a problem with Sasuke's actions, in fact they cheered.

Kankuro was alarmed and turned around. He saw the jutsu at Sasuke's hand widened his eyes. He did not actually think that the brat would go that far.

Lucky for him Genma knew how dangerous the Jutsu was. Genma intercepted Sasuke and gripped his right tightly making him loose control over his Jutsu. The **Chidori** burst into sparkles of lightning before disappearing.

Sasuke gave Genma a death glare but Genma ignored it. He stared at Kankuro, ''You are lucky I stopped him if I had not that Jutsu would have killed you.''

Kankuro scoffed and walked away earning more boos from the crowd.

''Let me go!'' Sasuke yelled as Genma was still holding his arm.

Genma ignored Sasuke again and looked back at the crowd, ''Uchiha Sasuke will proceed to the next round!'' He said.

Kakashi as Sasuke's sensei appeared beside Genma and Sasuke. Genma let go of Sasuke. Kakashi touched Sasuke's shoulder and both disappeared in swirl of leafs. They appeared where the rest of the Konoha 12 where.

Genma sighed, ''Will Nara Shikamaru and Temari step forward please!''

Both contestants walked into the ring. Temari looked liked she was the only of the two one to be prepared to fight. Shikamaru had his usual bored expression.

Genma looked between both fighters, ''Are both fighters ready?'' He asked earning nods from both fighters, ''Final match of the first round begin!'' He said and jumped back to his seat.

Temari being the only who seemed to be eager to fight charged first at Shikamaru. She had seen him fight once and did not think that he could beat her. She thought no believed that she was going to get an easy win.

Her large fan was in her hands as she attempted to smack Shikamaru with it. Shikamaru dodged her attempted and landed down as he began to compute ways of winning the match. After a minute, he had already computed several ways to end the match.

The fight continued on as Temari showed her skills with a fan. The fan was used to generate powerful wind jutsu's. Temari was certainly a skilled wind user which was no surprise as Suna was famous for breeding wind users. Wind affinity despite being very powerful was very rare. Not a lot of people had a natural affinity to wind. It was a joy to see someone such as Temari demonstrates her skills with a fan.

While Temari was on the attack Shikamaru was running around the battlefield dodging Temari's attacks and throwing explosive tags at the girl. Luckily for Temari none of the explosives tags hit her. She was not once caught in the explosions. Despite dodging most of Temari's attacks Shikamaru was unfortunate and was hit by one of Temari's attacks. Luckily, for him it did not give him much damage all did was to give him a few cuts.

Shikamaru was also trying to catch Temari with his Shadow possession jutsu. He was skillfully trying in the best way he could to catch her. It was most surprising at how hard Shikamaru seemed to be fighting. None had ever seen Shikamaru try anything that hard unless a life was in danger.

The results had gone the way Shikamaru had predicted. He finally was able to catch Temari and restrain her with his Shadows. He forced her to pick up a kunai and point it to her neck with his shadows. He was controlling her movements and could make her to whatever that he wanted her to do.

Temari had thought that the match was over and she had lost but Shikamaru ended up forfeiting the match. She was surprised that he could forfeit the match when he was in the position to win.

His reasons where that, ''It was too troublesome to continue on, he had little chakra left and he just wanted to get the promotion.''

Temari could have refused to accept that she was winner of the match but she accepted it. Her pride as a Kunoichi had taken a bite because she did not proceed to the next round because of her skills but because her opponent had chosen to give up when he had her backed against the wall.

The match in whole was rather worth watching. The crowd loved it and cheered at the end despite Shikamaru forfeiting when he could have won the match.

Genma stood in the middle of the arena, ''We will now take a 20 minutes break before we...'' He trailed off as Gaara shunshined into the battlefield.

''I don't need a break, let us continue now.'' Gaara said emotionlessly.

Genma sighed and looked at the Hokage as if asking what to do. The Sandaime just smiled at him telling him to do what he felt was right as the proctor.

''Okay, since one of the competitors seems not to need a break will begin the second round,'' Genma said earning cheers from the crowd, which seemed not to want the break, ''The Matches will be as follows, Winner of match one will face Winner of Match Two, and the winner of match three will face the winner of match four!'' Genma said.

''The first match of the second round will be U...'' He trailed off remembering something important.

A young woman from the crowd sitting at a seat near the fighting area of the arena spoke for him, ''Namikaze Naruto!''

The young woman earned chuckles from some spectators.

Genma coughed to get everyone to return their attention to him, ''Thank you,'' He said looking at the young woman, ''The match will be Namikaze Naruto Vs Subaku no Gaara. Now since Gaara is already here will Namikaze Naruto step forward please!''

Naruto appeared in the middle of the arena in a burst of flames.

''You can begin.'' Genma said returning to his seat.

Gaara grinned maliciously at Naruto, ''Mother has been waiting to feed on your blood.''

Naruto raised a single brow. It was not the same time he had heard Gaara say mother and blood. He figured it was the Shukaku whispering things to his mind. Given what Zetsu had gathered about Gaara's childhood it was not surprising that Gaara would give into Shukaku's influence.

''I have seen the extent of your power, thus I have no reason to test you myself,'' Naruto said not bothering to reply on Gaara's words, ''I will not hold back.'' Naruto said.

Naruto did hand seals and kneaded chakra inside body turning it into fire. **''Fire Release: Majestic Fire destruction!''**

Naruto expelled a stream of dense flames that ignited upon reaching their target, Gaara. The fire expanded covering most of the fighting ground of the arena. Naruto held the flames for some time wanting to see how Gaara's sand would hold on.

Gaara was in the middle of dense and intensive sand. A few where starting to fear for his safety. It was like he had been thrown in a pit of flames. Gaara had seen the flames coming and had his sand created a dome of sand around him. The sand held on but the intense heat of the flames heated his sand and made it unbearable for him. The intense heat inside his sand made it hard for him to breath. The heat was sulking out the oxygen inside his shell.

Naruto stopped his jutsu before he cooked Gaara alive. The flames cleared and Gaara's protective sand crumbled down into dust. Gaara fell on his knees with wide eyes sweating and trying to catch his breath. Once he had caught his breath, he got up from his knees and stood up.

Kage booth

''Your genin certainly is brutal Hokage-done.'' The Kazekage said.

The Sandaime nodded, ''Yes he is.''

''Still I am interested on how he will do against my Gaara.'' The 'Kazekage' said.

''I think he will win the match, so far we have only seen him use fire jutsu perfectly and I don't believe that is all he can do. I believe there is much more we will see from him.'' The Sandaime replied. Jiraiya nodded agreeing with his sensei. He heard when Naruto said he would not hold back he wanted to see what he could do when he was not holding back.

The 'Kazekage' said nothing further. He chose to admire Naruto's skills and eyes.

Back at the fight

''You did well surviving that.'' Naruto complemented. He felt he needed to do so. No one could take his jutsu not be incarnated. But Gaara had defended himself well against his intense flames. It was worth complimenting.

''...But will you be able to stand after my next assault?''

Naruto asked rhetorically. His Sharingan morphed into its Mangekyou state. Most who knew of the Mangekyou widened their eyes, to see Naruto wielding the Mangekyou at such a young age was defiantly shocking. Not even Itachi, who was a prodigy and a master of the Sharingan, had awakened his Mangekyou at a young age.

The 'Kazekage's' eyes lit yellow for a moment upon seeing the powerful Mangekyou Sharingan. He knew full well what one had to do to awaken it. He had done a lot of research about it. The Mangekyou made him admire Naruto even more than he was currently. He would be so feared if he could have both Sasuke and Naruto by his side. He wondered if Naruto had the Mangekyou when he fought him at the forest of death.

Naruto crossed his hands on his chest while Gaara just watched him. A blue chakra began to form around him. The chakra became dark blue and took a form of a skeletal humanoid that surrounded Naruto. The beat's head though skeletal had dark yellow eyes and a thin skeletal chin. The beast grew to a larger size and unleashed a roar. Its size was enough for Naruto, as he wanted to be able to move freely in the confined space. The beast stretched out both its hands as blue chakra blades formed.

**''Susano'o!''** Naruto said.

Naruto's Susano'o shocked many who had never seen anything like this before. At the Kage booth the elder shinobi who where knew what it was just widened their eyes. The Kazekage chuckled darkly inwardly and sat at the edge of his seat. Jiraiya and the Sandaime did not notice as their eyes where firmly on Naruto.

Gaara just continued to watch Naruto emotionlessly with his sand swirling around him.

The crowd was awed by what they were seeing they were seeing. They never expected such a thing from a genin at the chunin exams. It was like watching a jounin exam, not a couple of genins displaying their strength.

''My incomplete **Susano'o** Vs your 'perfect' defense. Shall will see which is the stronger?'' Naruto said to Gaara monotonously

He was not expecting Gaara to answer his question. Even if Gaara wanted to answer Naruto did not give him a chance as his **Susano'o** began its charge. The **Susano'o** swung its right blade towards Gaara. Gaara created a wall of sand on his left to protect himself from the attack. The blade had much power and broke through the defense. Gaara reinforced his defense with more dense sand. This time the blade hit a wall but still pushed him.

Naruto's **Susano'o **swung its left blade at a fast pace towards Gaara. His sand was still holding back the blade on his left and much of his effort was focused on holding back the other blade. He could not block the next attack. He jumped back abandoning his sand.

The **Susano'o's **blades returned next to Naruto. Gaara sent a wave of sand towards Naruto. The **Susano'o** swung its blade and propelled the sand away from it with its blade.

The **Susano'o** fused its blades making one long blade and wielded it with its right arm. It swung the blade towards Gaara, who created a dense wall of sand in front of himself to avoid being hit. Naruto's attack broke through the sand and hit Gaara. The power of the attack sent him crashing towards the wall of the arena. Gaara created a large dent on the wall with his crashing. He winced as he felt like Lee had thrown his weights on top of him.

The Susano'o brought its left hand created a fist sending it towards Gaara. The punch hit Gaara dead on and broke though the wall. Gaara let out a scream of pain as he felt the impact of the huge punch that hit his whole body. His second protective layer of sand was starting to peel off due to the damage his body was taking.

The Susano'o dragged Gaara from the wall and dropped him in the middle of the arena. His mouth was pouring out small amounts of blood. While Gaara was still lying down the Susano'o raised its right hand and slammed Gaara down the ground. The attack created a large crater on the battlefield.

The Susano'o did not stop with its attack it picked up Gaara from the crater and threw him towards the wall. Gaara's gourd burst into sand and crated a cushion for him to hit, but he still created a large dent on the wall. All of his sand had now peeled off his skin. His body was heavily bruised and parts of his body where now bleeding also. His breathing had become labored. Had he been a normal person he would not have been conscious right now. The ferocity of the attacks where too intense for a normal person to take them and remain standing or alive for that matter. Because of his sand, he only had a few broken ribs.

Feathers began to fall inside the stadium and the crowd began to fall asleep.

''Genjutsu, I guess the invasion has started.'' Naruto said to himself.

No sooner than later fights began to break out inside the stadium. Naruto deactivated his Susano'o. When he looked at Gaara he saw the genin's siblings running away from the stadium with him. He looked at Sasuke and saw the Genin going after them. Naruto shook his head Gaara was in no condition to fight unless he used Shukaku's chakra. The chakra would heal and make him stronger than he was.

Naruto suddenly on his knees under extreme pain. Using Susano'o had its benefits but it put his body under extreme pain. The pain had lessoned from the first time he had used it. With a lot more training he would be able to use it without any pain. Despite his body being the perfect vessel to wield, any amount of power he was still of young age and needed to grow his body into a more mature body.

Naruto got up from his knees and found himself surrounded by 10 shinobi's. The shinobi's smirked at him as if they promised him pain. They were all Sound ninja's. Judging from what Naruto could sense from them, they did not seen to be strong.

''Do you wish to dance with me?'' Naruto asked nonchalantly. He did not wait for a respond as his Mangekyou activated. A second later, his Susano'o flared to life.

With a single swipe of its blade, the Susano'o blew the jounin's away from Naruto. The Sound ninja's where hit hard as they did not have time to react. Naruto had attacked instantly without giving them a chance to ready for his Susano'o's attacks. The Susano'o's size receded and it became a rib cage surrounding Naruto. The Shinobi's Naruto had attacked got up and prepared to fight Naruto. Naruto sighed placing his hands on his waist. He was almost embarrassed for thinking that his attack had incapacitated the Ninja's. By the clothing the Ninja's wore, Naruto could say some of them were Jounin's, but their level of strength paled in comparism to the strength of jounin's from Konoha.

Naruto deactivated his Susano'o. He flashed through hand seals.

**''Fire Style: Majestic Flame Destroyer!''**

Gathering chakra inside his body and turning it into flames, he expelled a large amount of flames that spread out like a wave of water. It was just as big as the one he had used on Neji. It was a good thing for him, as he had never tested the jutsu on many people.

One of the Jonins tried protecting himself and his comrades, **''Water Style: Water encampment** **Wall**!'' He yelled as a wall of water tried putting out the flames. However, the flames spread out wide and where impossible to contain or dodge. One Suiton Jutsu could not stop the dense flames.

The flames reached the jounin's and began to eat away their flesh. They let out screams of pain as the flames began to incarnate. Naruto just watched impassively as his jutsu incarnated the sound invaders.

He turned around and jumped on the roof of the stadium. Looking around he saw a purple barrier on top of the academy building. Naruto figured that must have been where the leaders of both sides where fighting. Naruto looked carefully inside the barrier and found that it was Orochimaru fighting the Hokage not the Kazekage. He concluded that Orochimaru had impersonated the Kazekage as he did with the Kusa-nin at the Forest of death.

Naruto was sure the Sandaime could take care of himself even if Orochimaru was his opponent. Despite the Sandaime being old and just a shelf of his former self he was still capable of defeating even the likes of Sannin's. He was by no means a push over because he was old. Naruto acknowledged that fact about the Sandaime was still strong despite his old age.

The barrier was set so that no one could enter nor leave. It was a perfect place to fight without annoyances interrupting.

At the walls of the village large snake summons were destroying the villages walls. Konoha shinobi were trying in futile to stop the summons from entering the village. As Konoha shinobi tried holding off the summons, large toad summons puffed into existence and began to wrestle with the snake summons. It was given that Jiraiya had been the one to summon the toads given that he was the only one who had the toad contract.

Naruto activated his Susano'o again. It was still a ribcage surrounding him. He wanted to fight deal with some Sound and Sand shinobi.

**''Earth Style: Mud Dragon!''**

A mud dragon hit Naruto from behind. The jutsu crashed into his Susano'o and sent him crashing down the ground from the roof top. Naruto was so busy with his thoughts he forgot that he was in the middle of an invasion. Naruto hit the ground and created a larger crater.

He was unharmed from the attack. His Susano'o shielded him from being hit by the earth style jutsu. The **Susano'o** absorbed any damage Naruto would have suffered. Naruto was sent crashing because the Susano'o was not rooted down to anything but to Naruto. It went everywhere Naruto went.

Naruto got up from the small crater unharmed his Susano'o still protecting him. He looked up at the room to see those who had attacked him.

''I tend to be careless knowing that my Susano'o is active guess I should deactivate it.'' He said to himself. Deactivating would also save him from using too much chakra. Susano'o consumed a lot of chakra from its user. Despite his vast pools of chakra Naruto was not above acknowledging that keeping a Susano'o activated for longer periods would take a huge bite off his chakra.

Two ninja's jumped down from the roof and surrounded him. Naruto did not move at all his Mangekyou scanned them while his face remained impassive.

''Orochimaru-sama has some business to attend with you. He wants you to come with us if you refuse we will take you by force. That attack earlier was just to show you we can take you by force.'' The one at Naruto's front said. He wore standard Jounin attire and a Sound forehead protector.

''Oh..'' Naruto muttered with a raised brow.

''I would prefer if you refused because I want to see what the great Sharingan can do,'' The one at Naruto's back said sarcastic while walking into his front, ''I bet I can take you on by myself.'' He exclaimed arrogantly.

Naruto observed both Jounin's they were stronger than the previous once and seemed confident of their abilities. However, underestimating the power of the Sharingan was foolish thing to do.

''That is rather foolish.'' Naruto said turning his one visible eye to the jounin who dared to mock his doujutsu.

''Foolish?''

Naruto gave no response he pointed at the jounin, **''Tsukuyomi!**''

The Sound jounin found himself warped into another world. The world he was in was bloody red and black even the sky was all red and black. All sides to be just endless void of red and black. Under his feet a giant eye in the same form as Naruto's Mangekyou Sharingan appeared. The look of the eye was menacing, cold, and devoid of any emotions. The eye brought fear to the jounin. He was suddenly pulled up into the air with both his hands stretched; He was nailed on a cross.

Naruto appeared before the jounin. His face still showed no emotion. With his right hand he had a black blade which he pointed straight at the jounin.

''This is my world, in here I control everything, I see everything. For 72 hours, I will put you through an uncomfortable situation because of your arrogance.'' Naruto said his tone devoid of any emotion.

''T-this i-is not happening it's just a genjutsu!'' The Sound jounin yelled.

Naruto responded by piercing the man on his chest again, and again. The Jounin screamed in agony at the pain he felt. Naruto's blade entered his body second by second without mercy. No blood dripped from his body, as the blade did not leave a wound.

The Sound jounin stopped screaming after a few hours. Naruto cancelled his jutsu.

In the real world, the jounin Naruto had put under Tsukuyomi fell down to the ground unconscious. Only a second had passed in the real world.

Tsukuyomi is the most powerful Genjutsu in existence. Only those from the Uchiha clan to have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan can perform it. The torture done in the world of Tsukuyomi affected the mind bringing psychological trauma which was almost impossible to cure unless one was a medical expert. It only required eye contacted to be casted. However, it consumed a lot of chakra and put a lot of strain on his left eye, which he used to cast the powerful genjutsu.

''He only lasted for 32 hours.'' Naruto said to himself.

The other jounin bent down to his friend seeing him fall. He touched his neck and felt his beat albeit barely. He turned and faced Naruto glaring at him with all the anger he could will. His best friend was down and he did not know what had happened to him. What he knew was that Naruto must have been there one to harm his friend, ''What did you do to him?'' He demanded.

Naruto was unfazed by the anger of his opponent. Nevertheless, he did answer the question, ''I tortured him.'' He replied simply as if it was insignificant.

The jounin gritted his teeth in anger, ''You little bastard, I will make sure you pay from this!'' He said forgetting his mission.

He took out a kunai and rushed at Naruto blindly in anger. He tried stabbing Naruto with his Kunai several times but Naruto dodged the sluggish attacks. The man was blinded by his fury that he could no longer fight at his level best. Naruto disdained weak-minded fools of shinobi who could not control their emotions.

As the Sound jounin grew frustrated, his anger reached new heights. He could explode at any moment as his frustrations added to his anger.

Naruto made eye contact with the jounin, **''Sharingan: Genjutsu!''**

He trapped the man in a genjutsu. He hated fighting enemies who had no fight in them. It was a waste of his time and efforts.

The Sound jounin found himself trapped in another world. The world's sky reflected a rather huge eye version of Naruto's Mangekyou Sharingan. This made the world appear blood-red. The Sound jounin quickly realized that it must have been genjutsu. However, before he could try to dispel it a monstrous shadow with nine-tails appeared before him.

The Kyuubi stepped forward slowly in a menacing form. Its large bangs glared at the jounin and its blood-red eyes looked through his very soul. He thought it was a genjutsu but he could defiantly feel powerful and hateful aura the Kyuubi emitted. The fear that had gripped him felt like it was real.

''W-what's going o-on here?'' He stuttered in fear.

In response the Kyuubi grinned darkly making the jounin shudder at the dark grin. It was far scarier than he had seen from Orochimaru when he was excited about something.

'Kai!' The jounin yelled

'Kai!'

The genjutsu did not disappear. It was not an easy genjutsu to break if one was not adept to genjutsu. Naruto had hit a jackpot the jounin he had caught with his genjutsu was not adept to genjutsu.

The genjutsu Naruto used was his only genjutsu aside of Tsukuyomi. Like any other genjutsu this genjutsu trapped a person inside an illusion. Despite it being easy to detect because of the change of scenery it was hard to break. The genjutsu was similar to demonic illusions. Instead of showing people what they feared to cause trauma to victims Naruto's genjutsu fed on the fear of a person. The more a victim became fearful the harder it became to break. It had a time limit of a single minute.

The Kyuubi rushed towards the Sound jounin. It raised its paw and attempted to squash the jounin. The Sound Nin was in a state of shock as he was trying to figure out what was happening to him. He thought he was under a genjutsu but it did not dispel when he tried to disrupt chakra inside his body. Still he held little hope that it was still a Genjutsu. He watched as the Kyuubi's paw hit him compelling him down the ground.

It held him there leaving only his upper body visible. Its head closed the distance with him. He could perfectly see those cold blood-red eyes. The Kyuubi held the man and threw him up. It opened its mouth waiting for the man to fall into its mouth so it could devour him.

The Sound jounin eyes widened when he saw that he was falling straight into the Kyuubi's mouth. He let out a scream of fear as he kicked in flight trying to move away so that the Kyuubi did not devour him. His attempts where fruitless as he continue to fall directly into the wide mouth of a beast the struck fear into anyone who came across its path. His body began to tremble as the thought of death sneaked into his mind. He did not want to die; he feared death despite the fact that as a shinobi he saw death each day of his life.

''Help me! Someone please!'' He yelled in despair but help did not come. The Kyuubi got its meal and chewed it gracefully.

The Sound jounin thought he was dead but was surprised to find himself alive. His relief was cut shot as he saw the Kyuubi rushing towards him. He began to run away from the beast in despair. Though he did not feel any pain he was experiencing any emotion he would feel if he had come across a situation such as this one in real life. Everything felt real it was just that he felt no physical pain but emotionally he was damaged.

The Kyuubi finally caught up with him and tore his body apart piece by piece while he screamed wishing for death but none came. The process repeated five times before the Kyuubi stopped as the jounin's wife and daughter appeared before him. He could only mouth what he wanted to say as his voice had abandoned him; nevertheless, his family did not hear him.

The Kyuubi devoured them again and, again while he watched. It was the most horrifying thing he could see. He felt lost without knowing what to do. His family was being killed over and over again while he watched. He could not say it was a genjutsu as everything felt real. He dropped to his knees as the situation threw him into true despair. He no longer hoped that he could escape from the nightmare.

However, he kept mouthing, ''Please stop! Please stop!'' as tears poured out of his eyes.

He closed his eyes and when he opened them, he saw Naruto staring at him. He looked at his trembling eyes and then around he saw that they had returned to Konoha.

Naruto appeared closer to him and whispered into his ear, ''Run away! Tell Orochimaru that I refuse to follow him should he persist I will find a way to kill him sooner than I would like.''

The Sound Jounin nodded vigorously while trembling and crying. Despite his condition, he crawled away from Naruto.

A minute later Naruto sensed something behind him. When he turned around a foot crashed into his face. The kick sent him flying away. Naruto regained control over his body, flipped in midair, and landed down the ground with legs touching first then his hands.

The kick was hard and had a lot of power behind him. Naruto had been unable to dodge due to the speed and unable to block because he was also off guard. Naruto recognized the man who had kicked him as Baki, Gaara's sensei. Another thing he took notice of was that the man was avoiding eye contact with him.

Baki had seen what was going on with the different battlefields. He did not like what he had seen. Konoha was winning the invasion. It seemed that they had prepared like they knew they were going to invade. If Gaara had been taking part it would not have mattered. But there was another thing he could do ensure that things went his way, kidnapping the son of the Yondaime Hokage. Unlike any other children of past and present Hokage's Naruto was different. Konoha loved the Yondaime more than they loved first Hokage. Capturing Naruto would force Konoha to give into their demands. They would not dare abandon try to abandon the only child of their greatest hero. If word got out that they had abandoned the son of The Yellow Flash it would certainly take a huge bite off their image and economical structure. Very few villages would want to associate them if they abandon him.

Baki smiled inwardly his plan was indigenous

''You will come with me.'' Baki said in a commanding tone. He said it still avoiding making eye contact with Naruto's eyes.

''No.'' Naruto replied as his Sharingan returned to normal. Keeping his Mangekyou activated while not using any of the Mangekyou's abilities would only tire him out.

''I guess I have no choice then but to take you by force.'' Baki said and blurred out of sight.

He appeared in front of Naruto and attempted to punch him. Naruto blocked the punch with both his hands. Baki swung his right foot high trying to kick Naruto. Naruto brought out both his hands to block the kick. The power behind the kick pushed Naruto back a few feet. Baki suddenly appeared in front of Naruto with his right foot raised. He attempted to kick Naruto on his chest. Naruto blocked the kick by both his hands as he could not dodge despite being able to predict what Baki was going to do. The power of the kick sent Naruto flying away. Naruto regained his balance and touched the ground with his hands and legs so that he could stop.

Naruto rose up and looked at Baki. The man was considerably strong he was worthy of being a sensei to a jinchuriki. Fighting someone like him without his Mangekyou active would prove to be a nasty thing for him. Before Naruto activated his Mangekyou Kakashi and Guy appeared in front of him, both in battle stances.

''Naruto, you go after Sasuke, he went after Gaara. Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Shino and Neji have already gone after him, but I think they will need your help,'' Kakashi said, ''We will deal with this one.''

Guy nodded, ''Yes Naruto-kun let your flames of youth burn brightly by saving your comrades!''

Naruto turned around, ''Fine!'' he said.

''Oh Naruto before you go take this,'' Kakashi said handing Naruto a small piece of paper with a seal written on it, ''I got it from Jiraiya-sama, it's a suppression seal it should be able to suppress Gaara's chakra should he try to use his bijuu's chakra.'' Kakashi said eye smiling at Naruto.

Naruto took the seal and disappeared out of sight.

Baki could have tried to follow him but in front of him where two of Konoha's most powerful Jounin. He could not get just past them. Guy was the fastest and Kakashi had the Sharingan and a number of jutsu's in his arsenal. He prided himself in his strength but taking on both the famed copy-ninja and the green beast was a bit too much even for him.

''Let's go Guy!'' Kakashi said to which Guy nodded and both man charged at the Sand jounin.

A few minutes later

Naruto was running at top speed outside the walls of Konoha. By the direction in which the Sand siblings took he could pinpoint their general location. He would be able to find them given that there would surely be battles. Sasuke and the others would defiantly be fighting the Sand genin's. If Sasuke was not there they would not to fight but Sasuke did whatever he wanted so he would not listen even if his comrades told him not to fight.

On his way outside the walls of Konoha, Naruto had seen Jiraiya battling against several shinobi's from Sunagakure and The Sound village. Despite the numbers, being against him Jiraiya was devouring his opponents with ease. It was not a surprising thing for Naruto to see. Jiraiya was indeed powerful despite that he was no longer in his prime. The man was already above 50 and still fought like he was 20 years old. Still despite Jiraiya's impressive power he was nowhere near, the level of power Madara and Hashirama held.

Naruto sensed a bijuu's chakra around the forest he was currently headed towards and increased his pace. If Gaara was using Shukaku's power it meant that he was in a position to fight at the highest level. A jinchuriki using his bijuu's chakra was not someone any normal person could fight on equal ground. A jinchuriki fighting using his bijuu's chakra can take on wounds that would immobile anyone and continue to fight as if nothing happened.

A few minutes later Naruto arrived at the location his fellow genins where fighting. A sound of chirping birds was welcomed into his ears. Naruto stopped on top of a tree and observed what was going on.

He watched as Sasuke rushed at Gaara with his right arm palm sparkling electricity. Sasuke was covered by flame-like patterns all over his body. Sasuke had activated his cursed seal to be able to fight Gaara. Gaara had materialized a tail and a large right hand. They were features of Shukaku but Gaara had willed them. It was not that Shukaku was trying to take control over Gaara. Gaara was very much in control and with the creepy smile on his face one could tell he was enjoying himself.

Sasuke attempted to pierce through Gaara's chest, but Gaara brought out his mini-Shukaku hand and blocked the jutsu. The power of the jutsu cut through Gaara's hand but did not reach his chest. Sasuke gritted his teeth and tried to get away from Gaara. However, before he could Gaara's tail was swung hitting the Uchiha on his chest sending him crashing towards the trees.

Gaara's hand reformed again as he laughed maniacally, ''More! More! Come at me with everything you have!'' Gaara yelled like a mentally unstable person. His bloodthirsty nature had taken complete control over him.

Gaara ran towards Sasuke and hit him on his chest. Sasuke groaned as he was compelled to the tree almost breaking it in half.

Gaara grinned evilly as he picked up Sasuke by his transformed hand. His other hand began to pummel Sasuke continuously. After a few minutes Sasuke's flame-like patterns receded back to the cursed mark of heaven.

Gaara kicked Sasuke into the air and waited for Sasuke fall on his path so he could kick the Uchiha again. Just when Sasuke was about to be kicked Naruto appeared in front of Gaara and Kicked the Suna Genin in the face sending him flying. Sasuke hit the ground with a thud. Nevertheless, he quickly got up and glared dangerously at Naruto.

''What are you doing?'' Sasuke asked rhetorically, ''I don't need your help I can take him by myself.'' Sasuke said.

Naruto looked the young Uchiha and took a step towards the young Uchiha. What he was seeing picked up his interest. ''Ho, you finally matured your Sharingan.'' Naruto said stretching his left hand towards Sasuke face. Sasuke made no attempt to try and get out of the way. Naruto touched Sasuke's forehead making Sasuke recall the times Itachi used to poke him on his forehead.

Sasuke took a step back as the thoughts of Itachi invaded his mind. Itachi's name always and thoughts always brought a darker side of him.

Naruto's hand closed Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke was consumed by his thoughts to think of what Naruto might try to do to him. Naruto swung his right hand and hit Sasuke at the back of his neck knocking the Uchiha out. Sasuke fell down to the ground with a thud. Naruto did not attempt to catch him.

''Hey Naruto!'' A voice called out behind Naruto. Naruto recognized the voice as Shikamaru's, ''We will take care of Sasuke you handle Gaara.'' Shikamaru said. He was standing under a tree with Kiba, Neji and Shino. Kiba seemed to be wounded though not badly enough to threaten his life. Temari and Kankuro were tied together next to the Konoha genins.

Naruto said nothing; he jumped up onto a tree branch and looked at Gaara. Taking a fight with another Jinchuriki would not be good for his health if he did not fight seriously. He had been fighting for too long now and had used high-level jutsu's including the chakra consuming **Susano'o** and **Tsukuyomi**. He was not running out of chakra, he just knew that it would end up nasty for him fighting a jinchuriki for a prolonged time. He was also a jinchuriki but he never used the Kyuubi's chakra. He never used it all when fighting. Naruto chose to fight with his own power. The main problem was that Gaara could turn into Shukaku. If Gaara did succeed in taking the form of the Ichibi, it would prove to be nasty.

Nevertheless, should he be fighting with Kyuubi's chakra he would not have to worry about anything. The Kyuubi was the strongest of all the bijuu's, it would be damning to his pride to lose to any jinchuriki when he had the strongest bijuu sealed inside of him.

Naruto activated his Mangekyou preparing to fight with the Sand Jinchuriki. He needed to go all out from the beginning to end the fight at a short time.

''Naruto,'' Gaara called with a dark look spread across his face, ''Mother wants me to devour you for what you did earlier to me, and so I will. Your blood smells good to me, I can tell it is delicious!'' Gaara said and ran towards Naruto.

Gaara tried slashing Naruto's chest horizontally with his claw. Naruto was able to predict the attempt thus he side stepped. He was still faster than Gaara which made it easy for Naruto to dodge Gaara's attack. Naruto caught Gaara's left hand and spun around twice picking up speed. He threw Gaara and sent him crashing towards the tree.

Gaara recovered rather quickly and jumped at Naruto again. He was faster than before. His clawed fist crashed into a tree branch Naruto was standing on and shattered it. Naruto had jumped up not intending to try and block the attack. The power behind the strike would have proved that blocking was useless.

Naruto blurred out of sight and appeared behind Gaara. He was going for a kick from behind but Gaara's tail stood in the way. The tail swung and hit Naruto with enough power to send him crashing down the ground. There was nothing more annoying than getting hit by something you could see. His sharingan was able to predict the attack but in the position he was in, he was unable to dodge the attack.

Gaara turned around and grinned madly, ''Where is all that power you had? I want to see it again. Show it to me!''

Gaara said as he jumped to where Naruto had fallen. Naruto stood up and did a hand seal, ''**Fire** **Style: Great Fireball**!'' Naruto expelled the chakra inside his body he had turned into fire. The fire ball he breathed out rushed towards the oncoming Gaara. Gaara brought out his tail and clawed arm to shield himself.

The flames intense heat burned Gaara's materialized arm and tail making melting it. The materialized parts in Gaara's body crumbled down like sand.

Gaara fell onto the ground with his legs,''HAHAHAHAHA'' he started laughing like a maniac, ''That's the power I want to see, I want more of it!'' He said growing another tail and two hands.

Naruto saw this and knew that it was a matter of time before Gaara turned into Shukaku.

Gaara took off at a very fast pace and appeared in front of Naruto. Gaara swung his right hand attempting to hit Naruto. Naruto blocked the hit and attempted to hit Gaara, but the jinchuriki blocked his attempt with his left hand. Gaara caught Naruto's right foot and threw the blond away. Naruto was sent crashing towards the trees by Gaara.

Naruto groaned as he tried getting up but before his attempt could be a success Gaara appeared above him. Both Gaara's clawed hands where speeding down towards him. Naruto could only bring both his hands to block. The power of the strike resulted in making his attempt to block useless. The double hand punch grounded Naruto.

Gaara jumped up attempting to squash Naruto under his feet. This time was able to escape Gaara's strike. Gaara hit the ground with his legs created a large crater.

''That would have been nasty if I got hit.'' Naruto said to himself.

Gaara raised both his clawed hands pointing at Naruto. He began to shoot sand bullets at Naruto. Naruto jumped around the trees dodging the sand bullets. Gaara only increased the number of bullets he fired at Naruto. He was laughing maniacally as he was enjoying watching Naruto dance around. It was quite an amusing scene for him to watch.

A dark blue ribcage surrounded Naruto protecting him from Gaara's bullets. The Susano'o blocked all of Gaara's sand bullets Naruto was unable to dodge. Gaara finally stopped allowing Naruto a chance to catch his breath. Naruto deactivated his Mangekyou and prepared for another around.

The sand siblings watched their brother fight against the son of the Yondaime Hokage. He had defeated Gaara before but when Gaara became what he was now he was almost impossible to defeat. It was why they did not want to be close to the battlefield or else they would also be caught in the cross fire. However, there was nothing they could do since the opposition who defeated them had tied them and where currently standing behind them watching the fight.

Temari admired the strength Naruto showed at the stadium. However, watching the fight now Naruto was at the defensive while Gaara was on the attack. She was begging to think that he would not be able to pull off a victory this time.

Naruto channeled chakra into his feet for more speed. He suddenly disappeared and appeared in front of Gaara. He punched Gaara on his gut with a powerful punch. He proceeded to punch Gaara at his face several times before jumping up. Naruto swung his right leg towards Gaara. The leg connected with Gaara's face sending him crashing towards the trees.

Naruto landed gracefully on the ground panting slightly. He held a hand seal and converted the chakra kneaded inside his body into fire, **''Fire Style: Flame Dragon Caterwaul**!'' Naruto said as he expelled five small flame dragons. The dragons sped towards Gaara. They were set to explode upon hitting their targets. Four hit Gaara's arms and one hit Gaara's tail. All three materialized body parts explodes exploded into flames.

Gaara let loose of a pained scream because of the explosion, ''I refuse to be beaten!'' Gaara yelled out as he leaked considerable amount of demonic chakra. An explosion of chakra rocketed around him.

Naruto remained calm despite knowing the dangers that was knocking. It was of no good losing calm because things were not looking good. If anything loosing calm made a person make rush decisions resulting in mistakes that one would not have made had he remained calm.

Naruto watched as the debris cleared. Gaara had transformed into a chibi Shukaku. Naruto created a wood clone and sent it towards the mini Shukaku. The wood clone sped towards Gaara and engaged him in a fight.

While the clone kept Gaara busy, Naruto converted chakra inside his body into dense and intense fire going through hand seals. **''Fire Style: Majestic Fire Destruction**!'' Naruto said as he expelled a stream of intense flames towards Gaara.

The clone was to keep Gaara busy while Naruto performed his jutsu so that it could not get away. The stream of fire hit Gaara and the clone setting them ablaze. Both where engulfed in a sea of flames of intense heat. The fire spread out wide incarnating everything it touched. Naruto knew Gaara would not be incarnated by the fire because of his form. His real body was inside of the beast he had become. The chibi Shukaku was like an armour. The flames would only burn the 'armour'.

Naruto stopped his jutsu and watched as the mini Shukaku crumbled down into dust leaving a slightly burned Gaara. The sand genin was breathing heavily and his shirt was burned off his body leaving him bear chested.

Gaara began to leak large amounts of demonic chakra that would make anyone run away for their lives. Naruto knew what was coming. He could not put Gaara under Tsukuyomi as psychological trauma to Gaara would only free Shukaku since Gaara's mind was already unstable. He was forced to use the chakra suppression seal Kakashi had given him.

Naruto rushed to appear in front of Gaara. He took out the piece of paper and placed it on Gaara's forehead. The chakra Gaara was leaking disappeared. Gaara fell down with a thud on his back.

Naruto followed him his example by following down on his knees. He breathed heavily for a minute before standing up again.

Shikamaru and the others started to walk over to Naruto with their prisoners seeing that Gaara was down. Sasuke too walked with them since he had already come to after Naruto had knocked him out. He was very angry when he woke up but a thought sneaked into his mind. He decided to take up that thought to make up for being knocked out by Naruto.

''I lost, again,'' Gaara said weakly to himself. His eyes travelled weakly towards Naruto, ''How are you stronger than me?'' he asked surprisingly calm for someone who was like a maniac.

''I train harder than you,'' Naruto replied, ''But I have been once told that you can be truly powerful when you fight to protect your precious people.''

''Precious people?''

''People you care about.'' Naruto responded.

''Fighting to protect your precious people? Is that why you are strong?''

''I already told you, I am strong because I train hard to become strong. As for my precious people they are all dead,'' Naruto replied nonchalantly, ''I must praise you for your strength had you fully transformed into Shukaku I would have lost.'' Naruto said his left eye narrowing behind him as he sensed several chakra signatures from behind. He turned around and raised a brow seeing a wide grin from Sasuke.

Shikamaru was the first to speak, ''Are you alright Naruto?'' Shikamaru asked with a bit of concern in his voice. He saw Naruto fall to his knees and just wanted to make sure he was all right.

Naruto nodded, ''Yes, Just a bit worn out,'' He replied his eyes going back to Sasuke, ''I see, you copied my **Majestic Fire Destruction**.'' Naruto guessed correctly. Sasuke's grin only widened.

''What do we do about them?'' Neji asked 'them' referring to the Sand siblings.

''It is only logical that we take them back to Konoha given that they are children of the Kazekage. They would prove to be essential in future negositians with Sunagakure.'' Shino said keeping his calm demeanor.

''I agree with Shino.'' Shikamaru said his tone having gone back to his usual lazy tone.

''No,'' Naruto said getting the attention of everyone, ''Free them and allow them to return home.'' Naruto said.

''Who are you to tell us what to do? And Shino makes a good point why should we do what you say?'' Kiba fumed out of nowhere. However, Naruto blissfully ignored him.

The other genin's gave Naruto a question look, ''The Kazekage is probably dead,'' Naruto said making Kankuro and Temari's eyes widen, ''The 'Kazekage' who was at the chunin exam finals was not the Kazekage but rather Orochimaru impersonating the Kazekage. When Suna realize that their leader was killed they will abandon the Sound and return home.''

Shino nodded along with Shikamaru, ''Assuming that Orochimaru had manipulated Suna to believe that he was the Kazekage after having killed the real Kazekage, it is highly unlikely that Konoha will take any action against Suna.'' Shikamaru spoke his thoughts.

They untied the two tied Sand siblings. Temari gave Naruto a grateful smile, which Naruto did not return making the girl frown. She tried her best not to let her temper get the best of her. She hated being ignored especially by someone she was trying to show that she was grateful too. However, in her current situation she could do nothing.

Naruto disappeared away from the group making his way back to Konoha. Temari and Kankuro picked up Gaara and headed towards the wind country. After they had made a distance between themselves with the Konoha group Gaara said two words that made his siblings almost cry.

''I'm sorry.''

With Naruto

A few minutes later Naruto reached the walls of Konoha. He looked around and saw that the fighting had already stopped. He had sensed multiple chakra signatures making their way away from Konohagakure when he was returning to the village. The wounded were being treated by many medical ninja's within the walls of the village. The barrier that was set on top of the academy had disappeared also.

Naruto disappeared to the shinobi district. He wanted to allow his body to rest. He did not really care about any other details. What mattered most was that Konoha had won the invasion.

**From now on, I'm gone make normal length of my chapters to be around 10k. **

**I did not show much of the invasion because it served no purpose to the story. **

**Next chapter will obviously be the aftermath of the invasion. Chapter nine will be the end of part 1 of this story. **


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Normality could not be said for the gloomy clouds that reigned over the Village Hidden in Leafs. The Sound and Sand invasion had come and gone. The Konoha had remained standing; she had stepped out of the invasion as the winner. Konoha had battled against two hidden villages and won. Despite the victory, it still felt like a loss to many of the broken hearts in Konoha. A victory had been ensured, but it did not come without a price. Konoha had paid a high price for her victory. A price that she thought she would have never had to pay.

The death of the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the professor

The invasion of Sand and Sound might have been a failure to their end. However, Konoha had suffered a great loss. The Sandaime had lived through two great shinobi wars. He was a man of peace, loved and admired by many for his ways. He was the only Hokage to have served two terms and was the only man to have been Hokage for the longest period. The professor was indeed a great man in the eyes of many.

Amongst his achievements were the three legendary shinobi's, the sannin's. He had been their sensei and groomed them into the powerful shinobi they became. Unfortunately, the student he loved most over his other students was the cause of his death. Orochimaru, the snake sannin had been the reason the Sandaime had left the world of the living.

Konoha was mourning at the death of its Hokage because of Orochimaru, a traitor to the village. He was not branded a traitor because of the invasion but because many years ago the snake sannin had been abducting children and experimenting on them. Many mothers lost their children because of Orochimaru's actions. No one held love for the Sannin after his latest stunt. Almost everyone wished they could tear him into piece, kill him and then bring him life and repeat the process until their hearts were satisfied.

Naruto sat alone at the roof of his apartment building. He had not even bothered to attend the Sandaime's funeral. His views on the old man differed from other people's views. The death of the old man did not concern him. Naruto had not attachments to the old man. Death was something that one could cheat or avoid. Madara had cheated death for many years but in the end, he died. Regardless of the circumstances concerning his death, the fact is that he died. Despite that belief, Naruto also believed that death would never claim him before he achieved his goals. It was possible for his grandfather to postpone the due of his death to a later date, it should also be possible for him, Naruto believed.

Things were moving faster than Naruto had thought they would be. Every piece was already on its position; all that was left was for someone to ignite the flames. Although not saddened by the Sandaime's death, Naruto had not been expecting the Sandaime to die at this time. Naruto had thought that the Sandaime would live for a few more years. With the Sandaime alive, it would make things easy for him to act. Despite being manipulative, the Sandaime held a soft spot for Naruto, and Naruto knew how to exploit it. Given the death of the Hokage, a new leader would have to be set. Naruto just hoped that Danzou was not chosen as Hokage or he would be forced to have Zetsu assassinate the old war hawk. If Danzou became Hokage, his movements within the village would be restricted. Danzou would surely try to control him, not that he would succeed in doing that.

No one controlled Naruto, and Naruto danced no ones drumming. Only Madara made him dance, but he was no more.

With so many things happening fast, Naruto was learning that he should not be expecting things from other people to work on his favor. If he was going to get rid of his problems, he had to rely on himself. There would surely be surprises along the way but he just had to be prepared for them. Even if he cannot not be prepared for every surprise, he would just have to deal with them.

Hokage's office

Homura and Koharu, the former teammates of the Sandaime Hokage stood within the office. After the burial of the Sandaime, they had called Jiraiya into the office to make him an offer. Konoha needed a leader, despite the villages not suffering major causalities, there was still some destruction that needed to be corrected. To calm people down after the invasion and the death of Hiruzen they needed to someone strong to be a leader and calm the people's nerves.

''Jiraiya, I am sure you already know why we have called you here,'' Homura said to which Jiraiya nodded, ''So will you Jiraiya take the mantle of Hokage?''

''No'' Jiraiya replied simply as if it was the easiest answer to give.

''What do you mean by no,'' Koharu said raising her voice, ''You have to take up this offer. You are the only one who is suitable for this job and the only Sannin who is still loyal to Konoha!''

''Still I cannot be Hokage; I am not cut out for it. I failed to protect sensei and besides if I became Hokage no one would be able to run my spy network and you know how important it is. I also will not be able to do my 'research', which is important to me.'' Jiraiya reasoned why he could not be Hokage.

''Jiraiya, you have to think twice about what you are saying. You are the strongest in the village, we need someone like that to lead the village so that we do not appear weak to other villages with the death of Hiruzen.''

''No, I can't be Hokage.'' Jiraiya said with a thoughtful look, ''I may be the strongest but I'm not the only Sannin who is still loyal to Konoha.'' He said.

The elders were silent for a moment before they finally spoke. ''You don't mean HER, Jiraiya!''

Jiraiya nodded

''But she has not set foot in the village for 20 years and has refused to come back each time she was asked to return.''

''I know, but all I need is to convince her to come back to the village. Give me two weeks and I will return with her.'' Jiraiya said.

''Do you even know where she is?''

''No, but I know where to look for her.''

''Fine, we will give you two weeks if you don't come back with her by then you will be the next Hokage,'' Koharu said making Jiraiya nod reluctantly, ''You can take some ANBU with you to look for her.'' The elder offered.

Jiraiya shook his head, ''There is no need for that. Taking ANBU with me will only make her feel threatened. I have someone in mind who can accompany me.''

''Who?'' Homura asked guessing whom Jiraiya might be thinking of taking with him.

''Naruto'' Jiraiya responded.

''No! Given his 'show' at the exams, he has answers to give to the council and he needs to be confined within the village since we still do not know if he is loyal or not. Allowing him to leave with you might just give him the opportunity to make a run for it.''

''He will not run away. I am sure if he wanted to leave the village, he would have done it already. Wouldn't it also be better to have him answer your questions with the new Hokage in attendance?'' Jiraiya countered.

''Fine, but if he runs away it will be in your head. Moreover, you have to remember now that it is common knowledge that he is Minato's son, Iwa might try something.''

''I am well aware of that.'' Jiraiya said, ''Well then, I will be going.'' Jiraiya said and left through the window.

Homura turned to Koharu, ''Are you sure it's wise to allow him to take the boy with him?''

''I am not sure it is wise or not but I doubt he will be able to run away even if he tried. Jiraiya will be with him always and we will send a squad of ANBU to tail them.'' Koharu replied earning a nod from Homura. Even if Naruto tried to run, he would not get away with the ANBU on his tail along with Jiraiya. Still they hoped that he did not try anything stupid.

Unknown Location

Orochimaru was called a once in a generation genius. He was not called a genius for nothing, he smart and saw things in a way that no one did. Years ago, when he was still a Konoha shinobi he was branded the genius of Konoha. Orochimaru was brilliant, he had a brilliant mind. He was always scheming making plans. He knew things that no one knew existed. He had even invented a jutsu that would make him live for all eternity.

Despite all his brilliance, Orochimaru had his faults. One fault that has often costs him greatly was his habit to underestimate his opposition. When he tried to take over Itachi's body, he had underestimated the Uchiha and was left without an arm. He had underestimated his sensei and was almost sealed within the belly of the Shinigami. Had it not been for the fact that the old man was already tired because of their battle he would have been sealed away. He recalled the cold fear he felt when he saw the Shinigami behind his sensei. He had screamed for his sensei to let him go.

His body was giving up-it was rejecting him. He needed to transfer to another body soon before his current body melted down. He could not take Sasuke's body now since the boy was not even in his possession.

Orochimaru's door opened and Kabuto walked inside with a tray holding a glass of water and some tablets, ''It is time for you medicine Orochimaru-sama.'' Kabuto said holding out the medicine and tablets for Orochimaru to drink. The snake Sannin coughed before he drank the tablets.

''How are going to solve your problem, Orochimaru-sama?'' Kabuto asked worried about his master's health.

"I will have to transfer to a new body soon-this body is rejecting me. If don't switch bodies soon I might die." Orochimaru said in a rough voice, ''That aside, did you conserve the blood sample I gave you after we returned from branding Sasuke-kun?''

''Yes'' Kabuto replied with a slight nod.

''Good, study it, find everything you can about the blood sample.'' Orochimaru ordered.

''If I may Orochimaru-sama, whose blood sample is it?'' Kabuto asked carefully.

''Naruto-kun,'' Orochimaru replied earning a confused looked from Kabuto, ''Don't you find it curious that Naruto has the Sharingan and not just the normal Sharingan-the Mangekyou Sharingan. Naruto's both parents were not Uchiha's as far as we know. However, Naruto's use of the Sharingan makes me assume that he has Uchiha blood running through his veins. This means one of his parents had Uchiha blood. I am curious as to what more secrets Naruto is hiding, studying his blood sample will satisfy my curiosity.''

Kabuto nodded, ''I will get onto it right away.'' Kabuto replied and walked away leaving Orochimaru to his thoughts.

Naruto's apartment

Naruto was in laying low inside his apartment. He was planning his next move, what he would be doing next. He could not just let things stay as they were. He needed to be doing something that was of importance instead of playing ninja for Konoha. He had enemies to prepare himself for Konoha could wait.

A knock on the door snapped Naruto out of his thoughts. He could guess who it was by the chakra he was sensing off the person.

Naruto opened the door and found Sasuke standing outside. Naruto quirked an eyebrow, he wondered what Sasuke wanted from him.

''What can I do for you?''

Sasuke looked down as he was struggling to say what he wanted to say. He was acting like a shy girl trying to ask a boy she likes out on a date. Naruto sighed and told the Uchiha to enter.

Sasuke walked inside Naruto's apartment. He looked around and saw that the place was neat; everything was perfectly into place. It looked like a woman lived inside the place, which reminded of how clean his home used to be when his mother was still alive.

''Are you really an Uchiha?'' Sasuke asked his tone down.

''I have already given you an answer to that.''

Sasuke gritted his teeth; sometimes he hated how Naruto answered questions. That aside, if Naruto was Uchiha it meant they are from the same clan and he was not alone anymore. True he did not like Naruto a bit but if Naruto was from his clan, it changed things. Naruto was unlike Kakashi, who has a borrowed Sharingan. Naruto was like him-their Sharingans were not borrowed from anyone.

''Why didn't you ever say anything to me?'' Sasuke asked forcefully.

Naruto could tell that Sasuke was forcing himself to ask the question. ''Because I did not want to.'' he replied simply.

Sasuke was quiet for some time before he spoke again, ''You have the same eyes as that man. I know how you to awaken them, so who did you kill to awaken them?''

Naruto's eyes morphed into the Mangekyou for a second before returning to their normal blue color. Sasuke could not really tell what was going through Naruto's head. The only thing that changed in his face was his eyes only.

''The Naka Shrine, You are making use of it.'' Naruto said completely disregarding Sasuke's question. The only way in which Sasuke knew about the secrets of the Mangekyou was if he read from the stone tablet in the Naka Shrine located within the Uchiha compound. Only Uchiha could decipher the tablet.

''You know about it? How?'' Sasuke demanded forgetting that Naruto did not answer his question.

''Were you expecting me not to know of it? It is a property of Uchiha anyway.''

Sasuke calmed himself down, ''I really don't like you Naruto,'' Sasuke said before he could continue Naruto corrected him.

''No, you just envy of me.''

Sasuke glared at Naruto...well because it was the truth. Naruto had more power than him, power that he needed to kill Itachi.

''We are from the same clan and there is just the two of us in Konoha, I think we should talk.''

It was obvious that Sasuke used all his will power and swallowed a chunk of his pride to say those words. He was forcing himself because regardless of his feelings they were of the same clan. As it stood, the clan was nearly extinct because of the massacre several years ago.

''All in due time Sasuke,'' Naruto said, ''Now I must tell you to leave.'' Naruto said in a tone that left no room for saying otherwise. Naruto had sensed someone inside his apartment. Sasuke got up and left leaving Naruto alone.

''You broke through my barrier,'' Naruto said seemingly to no one, ''Well that is to be expected from a seal master.''

Jiraiya appeared out of nowhere with a sheepish grin spreading across his face.

''You are lucky that I was inside the apartment, had I not be in here this apartment would have self destructed.'' Naruto added making Jiraiya wince at the thought of an explosion setting off while he was inside the apartment. The way Naruto said it there was no reason to think it was just a bluff.

''Is there a need to set up something like that? What could you have hidden in here that you don't people to see?'' Jiraiya asked, figuring that Naruto would not go that far unless he had something inside his apartment that he did not want people to see.

''Hiding something? Might be so,'' Naruto responded, ''What do you want?''

''Can't I just come here and see how you are doing?''

''You can, I just do not want you to. Now get to the point.''

Jiraiya walked towards Naruto and sat beside the blond, ''You have the Sharingan, can activate it, deactivate and seem to be able to use all its abilities. Only Uchiha can do that, so tell me Naruto how is it possible I knew everything about your parents. Your father was like a son to be. If one of them had Uchiha blood in them, I would have known about it.'' Jiraiya spoke his expression changing to deadly serious.

''Huh? Jiraiya, you are a spymaster, you deal with information gathering. I cannot just tell you how it is possible. Use your spy network and gather Intel on me. When you get something valuable come back to me.'' Naruto said to Jiraiya. Jiraiya was a spymaster; a challenge like this one ought to prove interesting to the sannin. However, Naruto knew that Jiraiya would not find anything about him.

''So you are not going to talk. However, it is only a matter of time before the council drags you to the council chambers and force you to tell them everything. If you refuse, they might even have someone enter your mind to find the answers they need.'' Jiraiya said with a smirk. Personally, he would be against the idea of having someone enter Naruto's mind but if Naruto were refusing to cooperate that would be the only choice left for the council to make. Nobody could refuse the council well except for him...but only because he was a sannin and the strongest shinobi in the village. Naruto was just a genin and things would not work on his favor given that certain members of the council did not love him.

''Make me? I would like to see them try. If that is all you came here for Jiraiya, you can leave.''

Jiraiya sighed; he would have to start searching things about the blond, but first he had to start with the parents. Naruto was not going to give out his secrets that easily. That aside he had other business to attend with the blond, ''No that is not all, I came here with you for a mission which you will do with me.'' He said grinning at the blond.

''I'm not interested in doing a mission with you.'' Naruto rebuffed.

''You are going on the mission whether you like it or not,'' Jiraiya said firmly, ''We have to find my former teammate and convince her to return to the village as Godaime Hokage.''

"Like I said Jiraiya, I refuse to accept the mission. If you force me to go outside the village I won't return."

Jiraiya stared intensively at Naruto. If it was someone else, receiving Jiraiya's piercing gaze he would have cowered down in fear and give into Jiraiya's demands. Naruto was not anyone, he was trained to be able keep calm regardless of the situation he was in. "You are not doing me a favor by coming with me but you will be rendering a service to Konoha by coming to search for the new Hokage, and yet you refuse." Jiraiya said shaking his head, "Your father would be disappointed in you."

If Jiraiya was expecting a reaction from Naruto, he got none. Even if Minato were still alive, Naruto would not care what he thought of him. The man's opinion of him meant nothing to him, "Jiraiya you and I know very well that your request that I go with you to this mission has nothing to do with a service to Konoha. You only requested that I go with you because you want to get close to me. You want to take the time to convert me into your apprentice. You know very well that I would not serve any purpose in convincing the Senju to be Hokage," He paused for a moment, "That being said there is no reason for me to go on the mission with you."

Jiraiya could not deny that his reasons for wanting Naruto to go with him where 100% not related to convincing Tsunade to come back and take the mantle of being Hokage. He just wanted to be close to Naruto. The mission would give him a better chance to being close to Naruto.

"Please Naruto, let's go together. I know I screwed up but I'm trying to make up for my mistakes here, can't you give me a chance to make up for that." Jiraiya said his voice taking a pleading tone.

Naruto shook his head, "I told you, I don't hate you for abandoning me. Therefore, there is nothing for you to settle. I can talk to you with no qualms, but I don't need any emotional attachments with you or anyone." Naruto said truthfully.

Jiraiya was quiet for a moment. Naruto truly seemed not to hate him, but it did not make him feel any better. Nevertheless, there was a positive in all this; Naruto was willing to talk to him. Other than talking to him and not being able to do that, he would choose to have the privilege of being able to talk with the blond, even if they could not form a bond. Finally accepting the situation, he nodded and smiled at Naruto. "I guess I will see you when I return with the new Hokage." Jiraiya said and left.

Later that night

Naruto thought of something he had been relenting to do. He closed his eyes and focused.

When he opened his eyes, he was in a large old sewer. The sewer echoed with drips of water. Other than the drips, it was peacefully quiet. However, there was something sinister at the end of the sewer. Naruto sensed the sinister aura and walked slowly towards it. His watery footsteps ringed around the sewer replacing the drips.

Naruto stopped in front of a large gate with a piece of paper that had a kanji for seal. Two large blood-red eyes opened up and looked at him. The fearsome Kyuubi revealed itself from the shadows of its cage. It was resting its head on his paws. It was obvious that the beast had been napping.

**''So my jailor has finally decided to grace me with his presence,**'' The Kyuubi said with an amused tone, **''Have you come to tell me that my prison sentence has been cut short**?''

Naruto knew the Nine-tailed demon fox was being sarcastic, ''Is this what the great Kyuubi has been reduced to? A mere sarcastic bijuu robbed of your freedom, you shoulder hatred while calculating and binding for its time to escape from a prison created for you by a mere human. How pitiful.''

The Kyuubi glared at Naruto intensively with barely contained anger, **''Watch your mouth human. I may not be able to do anything behind this bars but this cage cannot hold me forever. You will do well to remember whom you are speaking to.'' **

''So easily provoked and angered,'' Naruto murmured but the Kyuubi heard him, ''I know that the seal cannot hold you forever. If you were complete, I am sure you would have already broken out. However, right now you are incomplete no longer as strong as you were when you attacked Konoha. Nevertheless, you are still the strongest of the nine despite being incomplete.''

The Kyuubi knew what Naruto meant by 'incomplete'. Before he was sealed into Naruto, Minato split his chakra into two, sealing the Yin half within himself and the Yang half within Naruto. That was what Naruto meant by incomplete his other half was missing.

Seeing the Kyuubi silent Naruto spoke again saying what he had come to say to the Kyuubi, ''I know you hate humans for their treatment towards your kind. You must hate me knowing that I am the grandchild of the man who called you a mindless beast that needed to be 'guided' by his blessed eyes,'' Naruto paused for a moment, ''I have read everything about the six paths and your history to know full well that you are not a mindless beast that needs to be 'guided. As for your imperfection, I plan to fix that. In addition, for your prison sentence, you will have your freedom soon.'' Naruto said and disappeared from the sewer. The Kyuubi did not believe a word Naruto said. For years, bijuu's were as nothing but weapons for their use. Humans could not be trusted they had proved that many times. Even now, all the bijuu's where sealed into a human to be the secret weapons. He could remember well when Hashirama told him that he was just too powerful let loose and left to roam around the world. The Kyuubi never went to attack humans for no reason. He only attacked when they came after him so that they could capture him and make him their weapon. He always stayed away from humans, but still he was seen as a danger just because had greater power than theirs.

Outside of Konoha

Two figures were walking at the direction opposite to Konohagakure. Both wore black cloaks with red clouds and straw hats that hid their faces. The taller one had a large sword strapped behind his back; the sword was covered in bandages. The two men had successfully entered the walls of Konoha and infiltrated the village. They were looking for Uzumaki Naruto or rather what was inside of him. Instead of finding the boy, they had found some interesting info about the blond that was spreading around the village like a wild fire.

The Uzumaki Naruto they were looking for was not as the same as they had 'found'. The Naruto they had found was being called by many names, some called him Namikaze, some called him Uzumaki Namikaze-sama, a few called him Uchiha. The Uchiha part was unbelievable. None of the men had expected to find the name of the Kyuubi's jinchuriki associated with the Uchiha. Furthermore, the rumors they had about Naruto possessing the Sharingan troubled them. The news of Naruto wielding the Sharingan troubled them. They also heard about Naruto's fights at the Chunin exam finals. They both knew the abilities that Naruto was said to have displayed where abilities of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

The shorter one wanted to prove everything for himself. It was unbelievable that Naruto was part of his clan. He had never heard anyone saying anything about it and Naruto had no characteristics of an Uchiha. No one could have guessed that he would be part of his clan.-At the moment-he did not believe it, to believe it he had to see it for himself.

''Kisame,'' Said the short one identifying the taller one with a large sword strapped on his back, ''You go ahead to the meeting point. I want to go back to Konoha and confirm something.''

Kisame was given no time to say something as his partner disappeared in a murder of crows leaving him alone. Kisame just continued walking away from Konoha with an annoyed look on his face. He hated it when Itachi did something like that.

Naruto

Naruto sighed as walked towards the Uchiha compound. Soon he would have to move into the compound and live there. The compound would also provide some security for him. The problem was Sasuke; the Uchiha's attitude annoyed him to no end. He would have just have to deal with it or he would never be able to live freely inside of the compound. He had never visited compound before. Now was the time for him to visit the compound.

Naruto trolled through the compound looking at everything. The compound was still intact; there were no houses that were destroyed. The only wrong with it, was that the once lovely place was now like a ghost town. Before the massacre, one would find young Uchiha's running around the compound with wide smiles reigning over their faces. The place was once lively with clan members walking around with their Uchiha pride held high was nothing more than a memory of what it used to be. Despite the fact that the Uchiha clan had lost most of its trust from the village and villagers tended to avoid the Uchiha clan members, happiness reigned over the compound.

Satisfied with the condition of the compound Naruto decided to make one more stop before leaving the compound. He was able to make the stop because there was no one following his movements. It was because of the recent invasion, some ANBU's where working hard to ensure that the village was still in top position. Others were patrolling to ensure that no spies from other villages entered the village. This meant to contain what was happening inside of the walls of the village. The strongest of the shinobi where obviously out of the village doing high ranked missions to prove that Konoha could still handle high ranked missions despite the recent invasion. What Konoha was doing now was displaying its power.

Naka Shrine

Naruto entered the shrine with the use of his Sharingan and the Naka shrine pass technique. Only an Uchiha could enter into the shrine. It was protected because it held valuable clan secrets. Naruto was positive that even though Kakashi had an implanted sharingan he could not enter the shrine. Uchiha used the shrine as their secret meeting place.

Naruto activated his Mangekyou Sharingan. He looked at tablet looking at read it. Everything he was able to read he already knew. Madara had copies of tablets at the hideout. The things he could not decipher needed the Rinnegan to be deciphered. The Mangekyou could not decipher everything about the Bijuu's and the Sage of Six paths. Naruto sighed despite not having the Rinnegan he already knew everything since Madara had already deciphered everything.

The place was useful to hiding things. Naruto wanted to see it for himself. It was truly a safe place to say anything.

Naruto felt someone and narrowed his left eye behind him. The man in a black cloak with red clouds appeared inside the shrine. Naruto a glimpse of the man's eyes, ''Uchiha Itachi'' Naruto said turning towards the older Uchiha.

Itachi now had no doubt. Naruto was an Uchiha. To be able to enter the shrine proved that. Not even Orochimaru who could make his way through any barrier and was slippery as a snake could enter the shrine. In addition, the Mangekyou he was seeing on Naruto's left eye proved that the villagers were not exaggerating.

''So it is true,'' Itachi, said walking close to Naruto. He took off his straw hat and his face became clear. Itachi's own Mangekyou Sharingan was activated. ''You are from my clan. How that came to be raises a lot questions.''

''People always question what they cannot understand or what they refuse to believe. Is it not better to question things and accept them as they are?'' Naruto said. Naruto figured that Itachi would want to know how he was an Uchiha. He did not tell him the same answer as Jiraiya because Itachi was someone who Naruto had some kind of respect. That 'respect' was because the Uchiha had massacred the whole Uchiha clan. He was the strongest Uchiha aside from Tobi. It was not that Naruto did not respect Jiraiya for his strength. Jiraiya was told what he was told because he was meddling into things that did not concern him. Telling him to search for information was just sending him on a wild goose chase since he will not find anything. Itachi, Naruto was telling to accept that he was an Uchiha and not try to reason things.

Itachi nodded, ''I had come to see if what I had heard was true,'' Itachi said.

''Your presence, does it mean that Akatsuki has begun its hunt for bijuu's?'' Naruto asked blankly.

If Itachi was shocked that Naruto knew of the organization he worked for he did not show it. ''No, not yet we were just collecting information on Jinchuriki's,'' Itachi replied, ''How did you know? Did Jiraiya tell you?''

''No, Jiraiya has not told me about the organization. Given how secretive the Akatsuki is I doubt he knows anything useful.'' Naruto replied.

''How do you know then?''

''I did not think that you were the once to be asking these questions Itachi. I expected someone like your partner to ask such questions.''

Naruto revealed something. That Itachi had a partner he never told Naruto he had a partner. By the way Naruto spoke it sounded like he knew how his partner acted, ''How much do you know?'' anyone with half brains would be truly curious.

''Well...I know everything about the Akatsuki, and that there are 4 Uchiha's alive,'' Naruto said getting a reaction from Itachi. Itachi's eyes widened slightly, not anyone would have noticed but Naruto noticed. Itachi knew who the forth Uchiha was, ''And before I forget, I must thank you for the service you did to the Uchiha clan. Had you not massacred them, the Uchiha name would have been surely degraded and shamed.''

His words got another reaction from Itachi. It was unbelievable to say that Naruto was talking to him. The last time he saw the blond, he was roaming around the village wearing an orange jumpsuit causing havoc. ''You have surely grown and Matured since I was saw you Naruto-kun.'' Itachi said, with a small smile that quickly disappeared. ''Do you intend to tell Sasuke the truth behind the Uchiha massacre?''

''If I did that then I would have to kill him.'' Naruto said.

Itachi understood that in Sasuke's current condition if he was told the truth he would try to destroy the leaf village, which was why Naruto said he would have to kill him if he told him the truth. Sasuke was unstable at his condition; it made him capable of anything. He was really a disappointment, nevertheless he was still his brother and he still loved him.

''Next time we see each it will be in a battle, I hope by that time you will have grown stronger than you are now.'' Itachi said walking away. Leaving Kisame alone for a long time was not a smart thing to do.

With Itachi gone Naruto was left alone with his thoughts. The Akatsuki were making their move, despite not actively starting to capture jinchuriki, they were making a move. Naruto had not expected such a thing. He had to become strong, and the only way for him to that was to train. However, he could not train to his fullest ability within the walls of Konoha. The hideout had always provided him the perfect environment to train to his hearts extent. Training at the hideout was also good since he would have no one interrupting his training schedule. At the hideout, he only had Zetsu, who would never interrupt him while he trained.

He had to leave Konoha for a couple of years to get the training he needs to become strong. Yes, when Jiraiya comes back he would have to leave the village. Whether they liked it or not he would leave to get his training done.

Two weeks later

Konoha was once again happy. The lost grandchild of the first Hokage, Senju Hashirama had returned. Not only had she returned but she had returned as the Godaime Hokage. The villagers were overjoyed by the news. Now they had two of their Sannin's back at the village. Senju Tsunade had returned to the village with her apprentice Shizune. The woman gladly accepted the mantle of Hokage.

However, a rumor was spreading out that Jiraiya had to pay all her debts, which were a lot, promise to stop hitting on her and promise to supply her with sake from Mount Myouboku once in a month. The sake from the hidden village of the toads was said to be a sake of highest quality. No sake from the elemental nations could rival its taste. That was just a rumor; nobody knew how Jiraiya convinced the woman to return after she had left the village for 20 years.

It had been three days already since Senju Tsunade was officially installed as Godaime Hokage. Naruto had never seen the woman or Jiraiya before him. It did not concern him though. He had already prepared for his departure. It was only a matter of time.

The following day

Naruto was summoned to the Hokage's office. He was not the only to have been summoned by the Godaime, Shikamaru, also summoned. Jiraiya and the Hokage's assistant Shizune were also present within the office.

''You were also summoned too,'' Shikamaru said in a bored tone looking at Naruto, ''This is troublesome.''

Naruto gave Shikamaru a rare slight smile that was only alive for a second. Jiraiya noticed it, so did Tsunade and Shikamaru. ''Everything else is troublesome to you, Shikamaru.''

Jiraiya noted to talk to Shikamaru privately. Naruto was willing to go as far as to smile at Shikamaru. There had to be something between the two that Jiraiya did not know. Ever since he returned to Konoha he had never seen Naruto smile before, but in the presence of Shikamaru he smiled, even though the smile was small it was a smile nevertheless.

The Godaime cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. She looked at Naruto, 'So this is the son of Minato, Jiraiya told me about. He looks exactly like his father...well except for his eyes.' Tsunade thought looking at Naruto.

Naruto's eyes, the Sharingan, staring at his left eye that was devoid of any emotion made her feel uncomfortable.

Tsunade sighed and spoke, ''You must be wondering why I called you too here,'' Tsunade said, ''You two participated in the chunin exam finals. The judges at the exams made a decision to promote you to chunin.'' Tsunade announced.

None of the two smiled or seemed to be excited about the news. Tsunade threw them both chunin flanks.

''Shikamaru, you can leave. Naruto stay behind.''

Shikamaru nodded and left with his chunin flank jacket at hand.

''Hime, we should go now.'' Jiraiya said to Tsunade. Knowing Tsunade, she probably had already forgotten about the council meeting.

Tsunade nodded, ''Naruto, follow us to the council chambers.'' Tsunade spoke in a voice that made her suitable to be Hokage.

Naruto followed her and Jiraiya without saying anything.

Council chambers

The chamber was packed with council members. Clan heads formed the shinobi council, civilian council formed by two civilians from the business industry to ordinary civilians. In attendance were the elders of the village who served as advisors to the Hokage only. They also had more power than any other member did in the council room.

Tsunade sat at the seat of the Hokage and Jiraiya walked stood behind her.

Tsunade looked at Naruto who was standing calmly in front of the table, ''Take a sit Naruto.'' Tsunade said showing Naruto an empty chair. Naruto walked towards the chair and sat down. All eyes within the room turned to him.

Naruto looked at each council member with his lone visible Sharingan eye. The most influential clan was the Hyuuga clan, as it was now the most powerful clan within Konoha. The clan owned more land within Konoha than any other clan did, it also held a lot of bragging rights when it came to village politics. Hyuuga Hiashi headed the clan.

The other clan that held more power than other clans had to be the Nara clan. Their head clan was the jounin commander and acted like the brains of Konoha. Every strategy that the village formed was formulated by him, or had to pass through his eyes first for his approval.

The other clans held equal power. One could not put them ahead of one another. They all served Konoha and provided Konoha service based on what their clans specialized.

''We can begin this meeting.'' Tsunade said calling the meeting to begin.

''Are you really part of the Uchiha clan?'' Tsume Inuzuka, head of the Inuzuka clan asked.

''Yes'' Naruto replied calmly.

''How?'' Shimura Danzo asked. The old war hawk was one of the elders. He was truly curious as to how Naruto was an Uchiha. He knew both the boy's parents and none of them were Uchiha. So how was the boy part of the Uchiha clan?

''I cannot answer that question.'' Naruto replied simply.

''Listen boy, you will give us all the answers we need. We are the council of this village, and we order you to tell us everything we want to know.'' Elder Komura said firmly.

Naruto was not fazed by her firm voice, ''As I said I cannot answer the last question."

''Why do you refuse to answer that simple question boy? What are you hiding?'' Danzo asked his face showing no emotion whatsoever.

''Simply, because I do not want to tell you. You might be the council of the village. However, you are not my council,'' Naruto said, ''I being a shinobi of this village serve this village as best as I can. I will answer questions regarding missions and things that might trouble village security...but you cannot make answer your questions about my family-when I tell you how I am part of the Uchiha clan I will be telling you about my families secrets-a family that you hid from me when you decided to throw me at the orphanage.''

Jiraiya might not be pleased because Naruto was not giving answers but he was happy with how Naruto was dealing with the council. It was the truth they could not legally force him to answer them questions about his family. Reminding them that they hid his parentage was a wise to say given the situation. Tsunade had the same thoughts as Jiraiya.

The clan heads had to agree with Naruto. Naruto was not at liberty to discuss about his family.

''You dare refuse an order from the council boy?''

''Order of the council? Well...this is your answer. I don't know how. I expect you to have the answers since you have known about my parents ever since I was born. You know of them ever since they were still children. Shouldn't you be the one to give me the answers?''

That was one way to avoid answering the question without sounding as if he was refusing an order from the council. Shikaku smiled that was quick thinking from Naruto. He knew it was a lie, as Naruto said before he did not want to answer the question. Nevertheless, Naruto could easily say he said that because he was embarrassed about not knowing anything about his parents. He could say that he just found out one day after a life-threatening situation that his Sharingan had awakened.

''Why did you keep your Sharingan a secret?''

''I was afraid that I would be killed like the rest of the Uchiha clan members if I came out.'' Naruto replied with another lie. It was interesting to see the dumb and fuming faces of the council members. The lies provided him entertainment so he could get through the meeting.

Chibi Shikaku was rolling around in laughter. That was a textbook answer. It was another lie, but it was also a believable reason. If anyone found out that he or she was an Uchiha after the whole clan was massacred with only one survivor, he or she would surely hide the fact that he was an Uchiha in fear of being killed. If someone had given that reason, it would have been believable.

''Naruto, you know that's not the reason you hid the Sharingan and you know who between your parents gave you Uchiha blood.'' Jiraiya said looking for answers.

''Jiraiya, this council decided to hide my parentage from me. They threw me with the other orphans and watched me, as the villagers hated me, ignored me, treated me like a demon, like an outcast. You should be grateful that I am still here in this village, instead of forcing answers from me.'' Naruto stated his tone devoid of any emotion.

''What do you mean, we should be grateful?'' Danzo asked with narrowed eyes.

''Exactly what I said! After how this village has treated me, you should be grateful that I am still 'loyal'. I could have simply let the Kyuubi out and let it finish what it had started. However, I did not; I held on and was never tempted to do such a thing. Here I am being questioned like a criminal simply because I chose to keep a few things to myself.'' Naruto said as his Sharingan morphed into its Mangekyou Sharingan state. The Mangekyou glowed reddish blood as if it was daring anyone to say otherwise.

Danzo narrowed his eyes at Naruto. The Kyuubi was untamed. Had Hiruzen given him the Kyuubi he would have trained it to become a weapon to Konoha and loyal to him. Because of Hiruzen's foolish believes the Kyuubi was making fools out of them. It was unforgivable.

''I think it is safe to say that what Naruto is saying it that if he wanted to betray Konoha, or plot something against it he would have done it already given his hush childhood. Which everyone was aware of but did nothing about it. Personally I would not wish for what my own child to go through what Naruto went through as a child because of his burden,'' Shikaku spoke for the first time, ''Naruto is saying he has no plans to betray the village and will continue to serve it. Even though we allowed the villagers to do what they pleased with him. So there is no reason to be suspicious of him and the questions being asked are unnecessary.'' Shikaku concluded earning nods from other head clans and the Hokage.

''I want answers from Naruto, but I have to agree with Shikaku,'' Jiraiya said making it known that he was not happy with the lack of answers from Naruto but agreed with what Shikaku was saying; ''I also believe that Naruto is not planning anything against the village.''

The elders did not like where things were now. With the majority favoring Shikaku's conclusions, Naruto would walk away without having to answer to their questions. It not matter though, there was still another time. They would get him another time, and he would answer everything. One little mistake and he would regret making fools of them.

''Fine, but next time he comes here we will not tolerate such act of disrespect. It will be seen as treason.'' Koharu said.

The civilian council even now never said a word. It was as if someone had threatened or paid them to be quiet during the whole meeting. Naruto did not care either way.

''Well I guess Naruto can be excused now, so we can discuss other subjects of importance.'' Tsunade said stressing the word importance.

Naruto left the chamber leaving the council members to discuss matters about the village stability, security and economy.

The following day

Naruto was again called to the Hokage's office. He had been planning to visit the office to let the Hokage know of his plans. It would not be good if he disappeared without telling the Hokage.

Tsunade was sitting behind her desk. A bottle of sake and a large stack of papers decorated the table. The woman to have been having a bad day. Jiraiya was sitting on the window with a rather calm look on his face.

Tsunade looked at Naruto. He was not wearing the chunin flank jacket she had given him yesterday. Just like yesterday, his Sharingan was active. She really needed to ask Jiraiya why it was always active.

''I called you here because Jiraiya has something important to tell you.'' Tsunade said leaning back to her chair.

Naruto looked at Jiraiya waiting for the sannin to say whatever that was important.

''My spy network has discovered an organization called the Akatsuki. I don't know much about the organization. What I do know is that they used to work as mercenaries, but they had changed their objectives,'' Jiraiya said, ''Currently their objective is to hunt down Jinchuriki's for their bijuu's. For what purpose I do not know. I only know two of the organization's members and both are S-rank criminals. Uchiha Itachi, I'm sure...'' Jiraiya trailed off seeing Naruto raise his hand, ''What?'

'

''I have heard enough,'' Naruto said, ''I'm aware of the organization.'' He revealed.

''How do you know of it? It took me years just to find out what I told you.'' Jiraiya queried.

''I have my ways Jiraiya. It should not be surprising that I'm aware of the organization given that I am what they are after...no rather the Kyuubi is what they are after.''

Jiraiya was trying not to be surprised by this. Naruto always seemed to surprise him each time he spoke. Nevertheless, the fact that Naruto knew made it easy for him to let Naruto know just how dangerous the organization was and that his life was in danger.

''You must know that the organization is a threat. At your current level you cannot handle S-rank criminals on your own. If they were two attack you now, they would capture you,'' Jiraiya said, ''I have decided to take you on a three-year training trip to prepare you so that you might be able to protect yourself.'' Jiraiya said with a grin.

''I cannot go with you Jiraiya...'' Naruto said, before he could continue Tsunade spoke.

''Jiraiya assumed you would say something like that. Which is why,'' She said holding a paper, ''This paper outlines that you where given permission to leave the village for three-years on a training trip with Jiraiya. Everything is signed and approved.'' Tsunade said with a smile knowing that there was no way now that Naruto could refuse.

''I was trying to say that I cannot go with Jiraiya because 'I' have already left the village. Now according to that document on a training trip for three-years. I might have left with Jiraiya...it is because I do not need him for my training.''

Tsunade and Jiraiya stared at 'Naruto' with wide-eyed.

''What do you mean, you already left the village?'' Tsunade asked.

''I am a clone. 'I' have already been planning to leave the village to train. Should I have asked permission you would have denied me, if Jiraiya had not suggested it. If it was Jiraiya's suggestion I would have to go with him which I did not want.''

''You do now that if it went for this document you would have risked being branded a missing-nin.'' Tsunade said.

'''I' am aware of that, but to train to my hearts extent I had to leave alone,'' 'Naruto' said, ''Well, I'm out of chakra.'' 'Naruto said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

''I'm going to look for him.'' Jiraiya said and disappeared from the window. He did not give Tsunade time to say anything. He was a little sad that Naruto had left the village without him. Not that only, should the Akatsuki find him before he does they could capture him. Minato would never forgive him if something happened to Naruto.

Later that day

Tsunade sat in her office uncomfortably. The work was just too much for her to handle. The paper work she had to sign and the orders she had to give where putting a toll on her. She was beginning to wonder why she had even accepted the mantle of Hokage in the first place. She cursed Jiraiya for making her come back to the village. If she had not come back now she would have been somewhere gambling...losing money. Even though she never won, it was fun for her. That time she could drink all the sake she wanted day and night. Now she had to focus of her work as the Godaime Hokage. It was too much work overload for her.

After taking as Godaime Hokage, she had to deal with stabilizing the village because of the recent invasion. A month had yet to pass since the invasion occurred. The news and events where still fresh within people's minds. Konoha had also lost a Hokage because of the invasion, The Sandaime Hokage.

It was up to her to deal with the issues. The Sandaime had been a big part of Konoha's history and position within the elemental nations. Aside from the Sandaime's death, there were no other major losses that the village suffered. A few shinobi's had lost their lives, but it did not damage the village's military force. The strongest shinobi within the village were still alive and in good condition. With her introduction as Hokage, it would also influence people to be brave knowing that another strong person was leading them. Villagers could easily panic because of the recent invasion that had occurred and the mastermind behind the invasion was still alive. Their panic would be because they fear that another invasion might hit them again. Tsunade as Godaime Hokage had to ensure that the villagers did not have those kinds of thoughts.

The village did not lose much from the invasion-Only a few buildings were destroyed. Tsunade had to make sure that the buildings where rebuild with the funds she had at her disposal. The hospital, despite being in good condition was not at the standard she liked it to be. For it to be where she wants it to be, she had to train Kunoichi's who aspire to be medics.

The village's economy was in a good shape. She could not complain with anything after reading the reports. The Fire Daimyo had been a big help for the village to recover from the invasion. He had given the village his full support and did not cut down the money he gives to the village. In fact he increased the budget so that the village could recover quickly and asset itself as the strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Village's. Konoha had gone through many conflicts with other villages but it has always stayed at the top. The economy had never faltered. Maybe it was because the village always had someone or few shinobi's who where known throughout the elemental nations.

Tsunade sighed as she rubbed her temple. Overseeing things within the village was a lot harder especially because of the recent invasion. Had it not been for the invasion she would have not been having so much to do. She cursed Orochimaru for invading Konoha. It was his fault that she was not having time to have some sake. She had to keep working, go to meetings discussing on how things were going to be run, the changes that had to occur. It was all tiring for her. At least he had Shizune to help her with some to the work she has to do.

She had a problem with the council. It has not been a week since she took charge of the village and they were already making decisions for her and telling her what to do. The elders troubled her. Tsunade had come to hate them because they liked being in control of everything. She wondered how her sensei was able to stand them and not think of a way to kill them. She had already thought of a few scenarios were the elders 'accidentally' lose their lives. They were power hungry and wanted to rule the village even though they had selected her as Hokage.

At least some aspects of the village where not giving her headaches. The shinobi that made the village's military were all in working condition. Konoha could stand another invasion should anyone consider invading them. Her presence along with Jiraiya put things at Konoha's advantage.

Sunagakure, the village had sent messengers to resolve the issues between the two villages. Sunagakure had taken part in the invasion that saw the death of the Sandaime Hokage. That only gave grounds to Konoha to attack the village without any other village saying anything to it. What complicated the issue was that Sunagakure and Konoha were allies when Sunagakure took part in the invasion. By being against Konoha, the village betrayed Konoha, the alliance they had made. Their reasons did not matter as long as they did go against Konoha in the invasion. To attack a village you are allied to, is a major offence, a major offence that the village had to pay heavily for it.

At its current strength, Suna could to compete with Konoha. Konoha was the strongest of the five great villages and Suna was the weakest. Suna had also lost almost 50% of their military force because of the invasion. Most of their shinobi's had died during the invasion which meant that the village would be eradicated should Konoha decide to invade it. Danzou had been pushing for the invasion but she successfully denied the motion. She did not want another war to start. Tsunade was aware that Suna knew that should they fight Konoha they would be eradicated. Konoha still had its military force operating almost at full power.

Given the hard truth, Suna will do anything to make that that a new alliance with Konoha is formed. They will do so to save their own skins. It would be hard to form the alliance since the trust between the two villages had been lost. Sunagakure had betrayed them and there was no telling if they would betray them again. They did once; it was possible that they could do it again. Tsunade was not someone to take advantage of the situation and force things out of Suna. She wanted to settle things with Sunagakure so that the villages can move on and continue to work together as allies

With the treaty between the villages to be discussed next week, Konoha had to take to account that Sunagakure was manipulated by Orochimaru. Orochimaru had killed the Yondaime Kazekage and impersonated as him for a long time. He made the village believe that they were following the orders of their Kazekage just so he could have the villages' military force in his control. The fact that Orochimaru had manipulated Sunagakure made it an easy choice for Tsunade to decide against invading the village. However, Even though they were being manipulated, the fact remains, they betrayed Konoha. For their betrayal, they would have to compensate for the damage done to the village.

Another issue, which she had to deal with, was Uzumaki Naruto or rather Uchiha Namikaze. However, she doubted that the boy would use Namikaze. Jiraiya had told her that he did not see or acknowledge Minato as his father. With all she has read about the boy on his reports, he is described as a distant person. With what she had seen from him ever since she first talked to him, she had to agree with the report.

Another issue that was giving her a headache was that Naruto had left the village. Jiraiya had assured her that he was not defecting. From the reports, he is very secretive which was why he even decided to leave the village alone. Nevertheless, it troubled her knowing that the Akatsuki was also out there and could capture him should they get to him before Jiraiya. He was not strong enough to handle S-rank criminals. Jiraiya would have offered better security since he can take on S-rank criminals. Her worries where eased by the fact that he did say that he was gone. She just did not find found that he had disappeared from the village.

She was upset because of his disregard of doing things properly. A shinobi of the village did not just leave a village without permission. If a shinobi did that, he risked to be hunted down by hunter-nins since they would be forced to list him as a missing-nin. By the looks of things after listening to his clone, she deducted that even if she had refused to allow him to leave he would have left. If it were not for the fact that she had a document that said he was on a training trip, she would have been forced to punish him for his insubordination. Thinking of it, he never did refer her as Hokage, or by her name.

The fact that he had decided to leave without permission from her made her want to discipline him when Jiraiya does find him. He had to know that he could not do what he pleased and that she was the Godaime Hokage and her word was law. If she said no, it was no doing otherwise would be treason. She had to deal with him. She could not have subordinates who did not respect her word and authority.

Tsunade also had to deal with the issue of Sasuke Uchiha. From what she had read from his profile, he was also distant as the other Uchiha, but Sasuke had other things that distinguished him. He was a cold, arrogant and a spoiled-brat. The boy was obsessed with power and killing his traitorous brother. He did not care about anything other than his revenge. Sasuke was why she was waiting for Hatake Kakashi. She had been waiting for the famed Sharingan no Kakashi for two hours. Jiraiya told her about his tardiness and laid-back attitude but she did not think it was this bad. It annoyed her having to be kept waiting by her subordinate.

Kakashi walked inside the office. His right eye was firmly of his familiar orange book as he flipped a page.

''You wanted to see Hokage-sama.'' Kakashi said without even taking his eye off his book to look at the Godaime when he spoke.

A tick mark appeared on Tsunade's forehead. Kakashi had the nerve to keep her waiting and then not offer her an explanation. To make matters worse he was not even looking at her when he spoke. His eyes were on the orange book that Jiraiya writes.

''Kakashi put that book away and look at me or I will break every bone in your body and heal you just so I can beat you up again.'' Tsunade said dangerously clenching her fists.

Kakashi gulped and put away his book. Tsunade could make her threat a reality. She had a hot temper and one of her chakra-enhanced punches was capable of putting anyone out of commission. If she did beat him to an inch of his life, she could save him given that she was the best medic in all the elemental nations-There is nothing that she has been unable to heal.

''Good,'' Tsunade said leaning back to her chair, ''I called you here about your student Uchiha Sasuke.'' Tsunade said getting straight to the point. She would deal with the man's tardiness some other day, now she had important matter to discuss with the jounin.

''Did he do something?'' Kakashi asked immediately fearing that his revenge driven student might have done something stupid.

Tsunade shook her head, ''No,'' She replied making Kakashi sigh in relief, ''You are aware that Orochimaru has already marked Sasuke and that he wants him to be his next vessel. The council fears that if Orochimaru comes back and promises Sasuke more power than he already has given Sasuke will defect and follow Orochimaru.'' Tsunade said.

Kakashi nodded, ''I have seen it in his eyes. He would not even think twice should Orochimaru try to get him.'' He said sadly.

''Yes, that is what the council fears. They have decided to give Sasuke what he wants the most, power. Giving him power will make sure that he does not defect. The council does not want to lose their precious Sharingan seeing how the Uchiha clan has become nearly extinct.'' Tsunade said, saying the last part bitterly.

''How is he going to be given power?''

''You are going to take him on a three-year training trip. You will train him as hard as you can.'' Tsunade replied.

Kakashi was quiet for a moment. He was not surprised that the council was going this far to make sure that Sasuke stayed in the village. They had done it before, when they ordered him to train Sasuke for a month before the chunin exam's finals. He was also the only one suitable to train Sasuke since he was also a Sharingan user like Sasuke.

''Okay,'' Kakashi said with a small eye smile. Going away from the village would give him a chance to read his book without interruptions and he would not have Guy challenging him, ''But what about my other students. I cannot just leave them behind.'' Kakashi raised a concern. He would be a bad sensei if he were to leave his other students without making sure that they were taken good of.

''Do not worry about them. According to Sakura's profile, she almost has perfect chakra control. I want to take her to train under medical ninjutsu. What needs work is her fan girl attitude.'' Tsunade said.

Well that is one of his students taken care of, ''What about Naruto?''

Tsunade went through hand seals activating a privacy seals so that no one did not 'overhear' what she was about to tell Kakashi.

''What I am about to tell you is known to me and Jiraiya only,'' Tsunade said, ''Naruto left the village.'' Tsunade revealed seriously.

Kakashi widened his eye, he could not believe what the Hokage had just said, ''He defected?'' Kakashi said in disbelief.

Tsunade shook her head making Kakashi let loose of a sigh of relief, ''He went away to train. The brat left without even asking me first. When we found out that he had left, we were telling him-which turned out to be his clone-that Jiraiya was going to take him on a training trip so that he could protect himself against the Akatsuki. It appeared that he already knew about the criminal organization.''

Kakashi nodded, ''Even if he went to train. Was not it better to have left with Jiraiya-sama who could offer him better security?''

''I did point that out. Nevertheless, the reason he left without permission was that he knew he would not be allowed to leave alone and he said that he did not need Jiraiya. So he left alone even though it risked him being branded a missing-nin.''

''But still leaving alone is not the wisest thing to do. Naruto might be strong but he cannot take on S-rank criminals on his own.'' Kakashi said believing that it was suicide for Naruto to leave the village without someone like Jiraiya protecting him.

''He seems to be rather smarter than Sasuke. Therefore, I have I feeling that there is a place he went that he knows and we do not so that he could train while also hiding. Given how informed and secretive he is, it should not be surprising if he did something like.'' Tsunade said not knowing how right she was.

''Still, leaving on his own was not the wisest thing to do.''

''I agree with you on that. Nevertheless, right now we can only hope that Jiraiya finds him before the Akatsuki does,'' Tsunade said, ''As far as the council knows, Naruto is on a three-year training trip with Jiraiya. I would like to keep it that way.''

''Understood Hokage-sama.'' Kakashi knew that if the council got a wind of the fact that Naruto left the village alone they would try to punish him or even brand him as a missing-nin.

''You are to be gone by tomorrow morning. Jiraiya will visit you occasionally to see your progress so let us know of where you go. You will also receive an S-rank pay each month to take care of yours and Sasuke's expenses.'' Tsunade said going back to Kakashi's training trip with Sasuke.

''Kakashi before you go. I want you to search for anything you can find on Naruto's whereabouts while in you training trip, do it discreetly.''

''Hai''

''Good you are dismissed!'' Tsunade said dismissing the jounin.

Kakashi left in a puff of smoke. He was going to the memorial stone to say goodbye to Rin, Obito, and Minato-sensei before he went to tell Sasuke to get ready. Tsunade went back to her paperwork. She had a lot of it to sign and approve.

A few days later, Naruto's hideout

Naruto stared at the collection of Sharingan eyes that Madara had collected over the years-There were hundreds of sharingan eyes stored safely. Naruto wondered what Madara wanted to do with so many eyes. Well he could have just been keeping them safe from none Uchiha's who would try to get their hands on the powerful doujutsu. Even though a none-Uchiha could not use the doujutsu's full abilities, it was still a powerful tool even the hands of a none-Uchiha. Kakashi had become famous with his use of the Sharingan despite not having Uchiha blood-he used it efficiently.

''If Madara stored this many eyes, he must have also preserved his original eyes. The eyes he wielded before he took his brothers to gain the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.'' Naruto spoke as Zetsu appeared from the shadows of the dark room.

''Yes, he did. Do you want them?'' Zetsu asked.

''Yes, I need to gain the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. Madara's other eyes are with Nagato, I can't take them to gain the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan given my current level of power and I also want to awaken my own Rinnegan. Taking 'Nagato's eyes' would complicate things.'' Naruto said.

''I will go and get them. I know where he hid them.'' Zetsu said before he disappeared.

An hour later Zetsu came back with the pair of eyes. Naruto led Zetsu to a room mainly used to experiment.

''Implant them on me.'' Naruto ordered and lay on the bed.

Zetsu did as told and implanted the eyes. He took Naruto eyes and stored them elsewhere.

Three days later

Naruto stood at his training ground with Zetsu watching. He had been testing the power of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. Naruto had though that there was no difference between the MS and the EMS. He thought that the difference was that with the EMS, one did not suffer from blindness. However, he was wrong the EMS had more power than the MS.

Naruto turned around and looked at Zetsu, ''Zetsu, I want you to do something for me while I train,'' Naruto said, ''I want you to search the elemental nations; do not leave a stone untouched. Try to find if there is another Uzumaki beside me and Nagato that is alive.''

Zetsu did not bother to ask why. He just nodded and disappeared to begging with his search.

Naruto examined his hands before holding a ram seal. ''It's time for me to use the unique ability of the Kage bunshin to fast track my training.'' Naruto said to himself.

**''Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu!**''

**AN**

**Well, that is it for the first part of this story. Next up in the ninth chapter I will begin the second part, which I believe will be a lot more fun to write than the first part.**

**Before anyone starts thinking that Naruto and Sasuke are going to be friends let me disappoint you, they won't be friends. I know many people don't like Sasuke, but whether anyone likes it or not Sasuke is an Uchiha and that makes him different from everyone. **

**You must have also noted that Naruto is a bit sadistic because he usually tests his jutsu on someone else. On the next part, you will see more of that. You will also be able to see Naruto smile and laugh a bit. Ever since the death of Madara, I think Naruto only smiled twice or thrice.**

**You have not yet see Naruto use Mokuton jutsu, so I believe in the next chapter or the tenth you will see him use his wood release. **

**Pairings, I will remind you of them again, Mei T and Yugao U. Yugao will probably meet Naruto in the next chapter.**

**Oh and a reminder, Naruto will be strong, however due to similarities to Madara, you will rarely see him use his full strength. He won't be untouchable though.**

**I will try to limit my mistakes in the next chapters, which means I won't be updating as much as I have been.**

**If there is anyone with a question that I did not clarify, inbox me and I will answer.**

**Ja ne! **


End file.
